Cross Stitch
by K. Fang-sama
Summary: A new meister is coming to the DWMA. He's smart, charismatic, and is a strong and creative fighter. He's also Professor Stein's son. With his weapon partners, how will this new face shake things up in the DWMA? Can he actually make friends with the other students? And what's the deal with his family? SteinxOC, MakaxOC. Potential other pairings in future.
1. Chapter 1

_**I've always wanted to do a Soul Eater fic. Just so you know, I never got far in the manga, so my knowledge on the series is based around the anime. Anyways, enjoy.**_

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Cross Stitch

**Chapter One**

It was a plain old Thursday afternoon, and Stein was on his way to the Death Room. He had finished the dissections for his classes, but he still had papers to grade, as well as some students to check on in the infirmary. But that was out of the question. Sid and Naigus has shown up, telling him that they were ordered to take his work for the day so Stein could see Lord Death. Apparently something important had come up. Stein had pressed them on what it was, but didn't get an exact answer. Sid's zombie features made it difficult for him to smile, but by his tone, the doctor got the impression that he'd have been smirking if he were still alive.

"Trust me, Stein. It's better that you go see for yourself,"

Stein's gaze narrowed as he took another drag of his cigarette. He had never known Sid to be so cryptic. Whatever he was being called down for was clearly important; why else would Lord Death order Sid and Naigus to finish his work for him? But the two were also amused by whatever it was. Why? The mystery bugged him.

_Well,_ he thought, shrugging and adjusting his glasses, _whatever the reason, I'll soon find out._ He put out his cigarette, threw the used cancer stick away, and proceeded into the Death Room. His mind raced as he walked past each guillotine archway; theorizing, contemplating the meaning of his summons, and bracing himself for any possible thing to occur. But nothing could have prepared him for Spirit Albarn racing towards him, grabbing him by the collar and yelling at Stein as tears ran down his face. "STEIN, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"

The scientist's eyes widened. "Spirit, what are you talking abou-?"

"YOU GOT WITH LUCINDA HEARTGRAVE AND BECAME A FATHER! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!"

Stein was rendered speechless by this revelation, and thought he must be a deer in headlights.

"HOW COULD YOU, YOU CRUEL BASTARD?" Spirit cried, raising his head only briefly before resting it against his old partner's chest. "I know we didn't talk much after I met Kami, but I still let you meet Maka when she was born! Why didn't you tell me about your son?!"

By this point, Stein had returned to his usual stoic self and replied, "Spirit, you wouldn't go near me when Maka was born. The only reason you stayed in the room was because you were worried she'd be in danger if you left." Post-graduation hadn't been good for Stein's personal life; that was no secret. His relationship with the then-new Death Scythe was by far the most strained of any of his acquaintances from school, and after meeting his then-newborn daughter, he and Kami agreed it'd be in Spirit's best interests if Stein didn't come back around. That was fine. Time did them some good.

"The last thing you would have wanted was to meet my son," Stein continued. "I can't imagine how you would have reacted to him." He shoved Spirit off him. "How did you find out about that, anyways? I never told anyone, and he lives with Lucinda."

He heard a dramatic sigh. "Come on, Papa, didn't you sense us in here?" A voice suddenly said from behind Spirit.

"Seriously, Franken. You're usually sharper than that." The second voice made Stein's face go blank. He looked past Spirit and looked at the people in Lord Death's company.

The first voice belonged to a boy about thirteen years of age, who was drinking tea with Lord Death. Layered gray hair framed his face, and had a naturally wild look. His skin was almost as pale as Stein's, but his eyes were a deep violet. He wore black pants, with a pair of black boots over them, white stitch marks running over them, making X-shapes whenever the stitching crossed one another. He wore a purple leather tank top with a white design in the center: two sewing needles crossing each other, as if they were swords. Over that he wore a white jacket, with suture stitches along the seams and pockets.

The second voice was a woman's, much closer to Stein's and Spirit's age. Her eyes matched the boy's in color, but were larger. Her skin was also more tan, and she had the figure of a dancer. Her hair was long and brown, also layered and with a natural wild look. Unlike the boy's hair, hers had more of a wave to it. She wore ballet flats, a pair of red skinny jeans, and nice, sleeveless navy top. As a final touch, she had a scar on her arm, resembling a cross in shape. She stood off to the side, at the top of the steps, leaning back as if there were a wall behind her, but perfectly balanced in her stance.

Stein stared at the woman for a minute before he found his voice. "Lucinda...what are you...doing here? I thought you were on tour," the scientist said, steadying his voice before eyeing the boy with her. "And why is Cross Stitch with you?"

Cross Stitch, as he was called, closed his eyes, his frown morphing into a firm line. "Why do you think I'm here? You and Mama promised me." He couldn't believe that his father had actually forgotten, and was disappointed the man couldn't put the pieces together regardless. He was the smartest man he knew, but sometimes, Cross Stitch couldn't help but question his intelligence.

The boy's father was silent for a moment, his hand going to the screw in his head, turning it as he mulled over what the boy could have meant. He did this for no more than two minutes, but it felt like hours to his son. When a conclusion came, he brought a fist into the palm of his hand. "Oh yeah, you told me you were working on finding a weapon partner. Seeing how you're here, I take it you've succeeded." He said, a smile on his face.

"Actually," Lucinda spoke up then, straightening her posture, a smile on her face. Stein gazed back at her, remaining quiet, and trying to look as impassive as always. "He found two, Franken. And we promised him on his birthday that we'd enroll him into the DWMA as soon as he got one," Lucinda said, her own expression slightly different, cross between excitement over the situation and annoyance that Stein had forgotten. Cross Stitch had called him and expressed his excitement about trying the different weapons she had found for her son to attempt to wield. Not that it mattered how many came in the end; all that mattered was the boy's preference.

She looked back at their son. "I've never seen him so happy," she said before looking back at Stein. "Makes me wonder how he'll be on his first assignment."

Lucinda hadn't seen it, but there was a look of excited wonder on Cross Stitch's face. He kept it well contained, but his father could see how truly excited he was to go out and fight. Put his energy to some good use.

Stein smirked to himself, his head lowered a bit. "Yeah, me too," he said before walking up the steps.

Lucinda, once Stein rose to her level, immediately moved to hug him. He returned the sentiment. It wasn't a quick hug, much Spirit's literal, jaw-dropping surprise. The pair were content for a moment, both smiling at each other. Once they parted, Stein looked back at his son, his neutral face returning to him as he asked: "Working with two weapons is difficult. How did you manage that? Who are they?"

His son perked up at the question, a wry smirk on his face. "Would you believe me if I said Hunter and Archer Madison?"

The doctor stared at him for only a second before he burst out laughing. He was like that for a few minutes before eyeing Lucinda, still giggling.

"Haven't your parents been trying to keep those two away from him?" He said between giggles.

Lucinda chuckled. "Oh yes, but Cross Stitch values them over the playmates that came over prior. The only thing that was surprising was learning they were weapons." Oh, the look on her parents' faces were priceless. It filled her with a sense of pride.

Stein had managed to calm down, his usual smirk back in place. "Well, at least now I know why Sid was amused when he came to get me. I take it you already evaluated my son, Lord Death?"

"Uh-huh! You betcha!" He said, making a peace sign with his free hand. "He has quite a bit of potential. Not too different from you when you enrolled here, Stein."

Cross Stitch perked up again, an actual smile forming on his face. "Thank you, Lord Death. That means a lot coming from you."

The grim reaper pat the boy on his head, messing up his hair in the process. "You are most welcome," he said. Cross Stitch's smile grew, looking at his cup for a moment before taking a sip and moving to fix his hair.

His father looked at his mother, smirking. "So, I've been excused from my work today to help you with all the forms and then take you and Cross Stitch out to celebrate."

Lucinda patted his shoulder. "Look at that, you're still just as smart as I remember, Franken."

Again, Stein's face went blank as he stared at her large smile, but he quickly cleared his throat. "All right. But if we're going out, I'm not taking you to any of the old spots. Cross Stitch will be able to go to those with other students."

The brunette nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Cousin Rascal's is still open," she said, knowing Stein didn't eat out much.

"That's the one that likes me, right? Where we went after graduation?" Lucinda nodded at him. Stein smiled. "All right. I assume Hunter and Archer will be arriving later."

Cross Stitch nodded. "Yeah, their parents were a little busy, but they're dropping them off tomorrow afternoon."

The scientist nodded. "All right then," he said, looking at Lucinda, "let's get the hard part out of the way." She nodded, going to sit down with their son as Lord Death brought out the first stack of forms.

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**Well, this is a little shorter than I'm used to. But then again, this is uncharted territory for me. For those who plan on leaving a review, I ask for some constructive feedback. What was good, what wasn't, how do I improve, etc. This is my first Soul Eater fic, so the feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks!**

**~ K. Fang-sama**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Already on Chapter 2? Usually a good sign. Let's see what today will be like.**_

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Cross Stitch

**Chapter Two**

It was Friday, school was over, and the team was heading to the basketball court now that everyone was changed and ready to play. As they walked to the court, they talked non-stop about the unusual class they'd had that day.

Professor Stein had been in one of his dissecting moods again, which usually lasted anywhere from one to three weeks. It had started on Monday, and the only reason Black Star and Soul went to class Friday was because of a threat their Professor made; if they weren't there at least twice a week for the dissection lab, then they wouldn't be allowed to train and learn new techniques when the time came for it. The two were there Monday and came back Friday after being informed of the threat. And much like their friends, they weren't looking forward to yet another dissection lab.

However, everyone was caught off guard when they entered their home room. There was no lab setup at Stein's desk; no instruments, no animals, not even a diagram or two for the students to take notes from. There weren't even papers to pass to the class, much to their surprise.

"Looks like we picked the right day to come to class," Soul said, looking at Stein's desk. As surprised as he was, he was grateful to not have to watch yet another animal get cut open alive.

"You said it. Those labs suck," Black Star added.

"I would have to agree," Kid said, looking around with a stoic gaze. The girls all nodded, also feeling relieved. "I'm not seeing anything about the previous material we had been learning, though," Kid added. "It looks like the professor's going to start on something new. I wonder why?"

Maka took a second look and nodded as well. "You're right. For Professor Stein to drop dissections, it must have been something more interesting or more important."

Soul scratched the back of his head, letting out a sigh. "Yeah, that would figure. I hope it's something interesting, at least."

"Yeah, that would be fun!" Patty yelled.

"Compared to animal guts, anything would be better," Liz said.

The others nodded in agreement. But they knew Stein well enough. Something would have had to come up for him to change Friday's lesson. It made the group a little tense as they went to take their seats, not one having a clue what was going on, but trying to spitball ideas. Except for the times Maka used her book to chop Soul and Black Star, it was quite an interesting discussion.

Towards the end, Kid and Maka had just started a civil debate about which sub-unit of Phasmology would prove most important, their points actually proving of interest to their comrades. It would have continued for who knows how long if the bell for first period hadn't rung. Stein came in right as it went off, dragging his computer chair to his podium before moving to the chalkboard. Everyone got out their notebooks and pencils. Their professor was silent as he wrote on the board. When he moved aside, everyone saw what was written:

**The Multi-Weapon Meister: Ultimate Strengths and Downfalls**

"Fire, Thunder, Kilik, Liz, Patty, and Kid. Would you all come down here, please?"

The six in question raised their brows at Stein's request, but after a moment, they moved to the front of the room to stand at either side of professor Stein, out of the way of the chalkboard.

"For today's class, we're having a special lecture on meisters with multiple weapons. Including Kilik Rung and Death the Kid, there have only been eight students in the Academy's history that have wielded multiple weapons at one time."

The class started writing, even Soul and Black Star for a change. It was surprising more than anything, and they were actually curious to see where this lecture was headed. The two meisters up front felt a sense of pride in them, Kid more so at hearing he was the eighth student to accomplish this. Sweet symmetry fell on him by pure chance, but he was nonetheless happier for it. _A perfect way to start the school day,_ he thought, smiling. Their weapons were a little surprised by the fact, but still impressed.

"On rare occasion, those who begin turning into Kishins may also resonate with fellow Kishins. The more who are capable, the more threatening the opponent. The best way to learn how to fight in these instances is to examine the fighting tactics of meisters who wield more than one weapon at a time," the scientist said, taking his seat.

The class all whispered at that, intrigue and curiosity in their eyes.

"Since you six already know how you can fight this way, I have to forbid you from answering questions for the rest of the class," Stein said to them. "Whatever you don't know, you can get from your classmate's notes." They all nodded at the professor, turning slightly inward so they could see him while not turning their backs to the class. "All right. Does anyone have any questions before we get started?"

"Yeah, I got one." Soul said, raising his hand. "How can a Kishin resonate with other Kishins? They consume the souls of other people and they begin to give off wavelengths of madness from what I understand. Wouldn't they just destroy each other?"

The question raised a good point, getting the class to murmur with those sitting around them, as well as getting the six upfront to feel a little on edge, eyeing the professor with a stern air of suspicion.

"An excellent question," Stein said, chuckling as he adjusted his glasses. "In most cases, you're correct. One Kishin would certainly be fearful of another. However, how quickly a Kishin goes mad comes down to much more than the number of souls that they've consumed. It's also based on the strength of their souls, how much fear they truly have, as well as several other variables. So, there are recorded instances where they had enough senses to come together and fight against other meisters."

Stein raised his head then, looking directly at the scythe before saying: "Furthermore, there are accounts of regular humans, non-weapons, consuming the souls of humans they killed. Some of these people were meisters, and they fell to madness. So some of these Kishins were wielded as cursed weapons. They were quite a handful once upon a time, and it's believed that some of them are still walking today."

Soul's face paled at that statement, unable to believe such a thing was possible. He wasn't the only one who felt this way, because more whispering started, and some students were frozen where they were.

"But, only weapons can become Kishins, so what do those other humans become?" Maka asked.

Stein turned to her. "It's difficult to say. Their souls don't turn into Kishin eggs, but they still begin to turn into something not human. However, no non-weapon has ever gotten so far along that their soul goes through a transformation of any kind."

The students up front looked at Stein in confusion. "If that's the case, why is this so important? You'd think a two or three star meister would be sent after cursed-weapon meisters," Liz said.

"I agree. If they're that rare, what's the chance that we'd run into them?" Kilik asked.

Their teacher looked at them next. "Much higher than you think. Cursed-weapon meisters are able to hold onto their minds and attack strategically. Their madness strengthens them to a point they can handle multiple opponents at once. But among the smarter ones, we find that they prefer taking on younger meisters before trying their luck and attacking more experienced opponents. They're quite a high risk to you kids, so it's best you're prepared on how to deal with them. Luckily, their soul wavelengths bear similarities to multi-weapon meisters, so we already have a good outline on how to deal with them."

"How's that?" Kilik asked again.

Stein moved a hand to turn the screw in his head, turning it as he spoke. "It's hard to explain. I've only ever seen one in my lifetime. However, from what I saw of her soul, she appeared to be managing three wavelengths at once. Hers, her weapon's, and their shared madness. It's almost hard for me to believe she could hold herself above it, even if it was only barely," he said, removing his hand when the screw clicked.

Everyone was quiet as Stein continued. "For that reason, before we start learning about how they differ from us, we need to examine their similarities to fellow meisters. So, can someone tell me one advantage Kid or Kilik have in comparison to the average meister?"

Black Star snorted, not even bothering to raise his hand. "If you ask me, the only thing they got going for them is their two weapons, meaning twice the soul wavelength to control."

The professor raised his head at Black Star, looking quite surprised. "Well, that's certainly one advantage. Thanks for participating for a change, Black Star." Stein then stood up, writing the fact on the board. "Anyone else know an advantage?"

Ox raised his hand. "They have two weapons, so that gives them a more versatile fighting style. It also allows them to strike in two directions at once, if they wanted to," he said.

This was also added to the board. Maka then raised her hand. "Depending on the strength of their bond, the meisters can also possess a more diverse set of abilities with their weapons, right?"

Stein nodded at her, adding it to the board before looking back at the class. "I think this is a good start to our list. Now, I want you to look at what we know about Multi-weapon meisters and tell me some of their disadvantages."

Class Crescent Moon had a bit more trouble with this. Stein had called on other students to see their theories, but no one came up with something the professor was willing to write down. Of course, Ox and Maka raised their hands a lot, but the scientist seemed keen on seeing if anyone else knew anything. After about twenty minutes, he sighed, and looked back up. "Go ahead, Maka," he said.

Maka nodded. "Well, it's very difficult to resonate with multiple weapons at once. One of the reasons is because the meister is working with more than one soul wavelength. So, if one weapon can't resonate but the other can, then the meister would only be able to use half of his true ability."

The reactions from the meisters at the front of the room were something to behold. Stein was spinning in his chair laughing, much to everyone's surprise. Kilik was looking at Fire and Thunder, who were acting like nothing was wrong. As for Death the Kid? Well, the look on his face was nothing short of pure terror. He knew what Maka said was true, so the deduction she made wasn't shocking to him. No, what was bothering him was the idea of having an asymmetrical Death Cannon. Just the thought made his stomach turn.

"In theory," Stein said once he stopped spinning, "you are correct. However, what you described is just the best case scenario."

Heads jerked, and now everyone was staring at Stein. The man was smirking, standing to write down what Maka said on the board. When he was finished, he faced forward, his smirk present still, and the light reflecting off of his glasses. "In most cases, however, the situation is much more disastrous. Isn't that right, you two?"

Kid and Kilik both nodded at their teacher. "That's putting it mildly," Kid said. "Our souls have to truly resonate for our attacks to work. There are no partial successes. If resonance is disrupted, the damage it can cause to any one of us is unpredictable," he added.

"Yeah," Kilik said with a nod. "Partial successes are worse than failures. Failure means that the attack can't form, but it has no outward effect on us during battle. However, if we only partially succeed at our attack, the wavelength we create usually backfires on one or all of us. The first time it happened with us, I couldn't move for a week." Fire and Thunder both nodded when their meister said this.

Stein chuckled. "Yes, indeed," he said, turning to write the information down."Disrupting any weapon-meister partner during Soul Resonance is usually pretty bad. But it can be far worse if there's no external interference. More so if you have more than one weapon." Stein then turned around, shoving his hands into his coat pocket and looking back at the teams he called forward. "Just out of curiosity, how would your fellow meisters know the difference between a partial success and a failure?"

The two of them grimaced a bit. "It's... outwardly obvious," Kid eventually said. "A partial success immediately harms someone in the party. Usually in a shocking manner similar to Soul Force."

Patty stepped forward. "Yeah, the first one we had, Liz flung out of Kid's hand, transformed back, and hit a wall. It was pretty funny." As the blond laughed, everyone save for her meister and sister sweat-dropped.

"She's your sister. How could you laugh at her like that?!"

"Seriously, Patty. I could barely walk after that. I don't think you would have liked it if it was you."

Patty giggled again. "Sorry~"

Stein adjusted his glasses, looking at his watch before moving on. "This appears to be all the time we have. We'll be covering this again on Monday. We have about ten minutes, so ask questions if you have any."

Of course there were a few, but none that bore interest to the seven friends. However, a thought dawned over Kid, one he couldn't leave the classroom if it was unanswered. So he raised his hand, now back at this seat where all his books were. "Yes, Kid, what is it?" The doctor asked, wondering what the grim reaper couldn't follow, especially since the lesson mostly centered around things he already knew.

"I was just wondering," Kid said, "why did you decide to change up today's dissection lab to a lesson on multi-weapon meisters? What happened to cause you to change the topic on the phasmology of rare amphibians? Did it involve a cursed-weapon meister?"

It was said, and it couldn't be taken back. Every other student in class was looking forward, now all wondering the same thing. From the looks, Stein got the distinct impression that he wouldn't be able to get them to drop the subject. So, he allowed himself a smirk and answered truthfully. "Oh no, nothing like that. But you are right, something did happen. Ya see," the professor's head lowered slightly, his eyes now visible through his glasses, "starting Monday, you and Kilik will no longer be the only multi-weapon meisters in the academy."

Everyone was surprised at hearing that, not expecting such a casual reason behind their teacher's actions. "He will mark history in this academy. The most multi-weapon meisters enrolled in its entire history," Stein added, the smirk morphing into more of a smile as he relaxed into his chair.

Kid's eyes narrowed. "But you wouldn't do this unless you were curious about this kid. Do you know him?"

Again, Stein laughed. "Like the back of my hand. Him and his partners will be quite something." The bell rang, but no one moved to leave right away. "All right. Class dismissed." And with that, he wheeled himself out.

The seven friends were all thinking it over. A child the professor knew, the ninth multi-weapon meister in the academy's history, making a record three meisters enrolled at once. All of them were a bit curious about who this kid might be, but no one had a clue. Stein wasn't exactly sociable, so the idea that someone let him meet their kid was a bit doubtful in their minds. They pondered all the way down to the court, everyone trying to come up with an answer. So it was no shock that no one noticed that their usual court was taken until they heard a swish, followed by a set of voices.

"Yeah! Another one bites the dust!"

"Oh please. You're lucky I'm taking it easy on you."

Everyone looked up to see a boy and girl start arguing with each other.

"Oh please," the girl said. "I'm winning 14 to 4. You just can't stand me being better than you, Dick Head," she teased.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, Bitch Face. I haven't even been trying. You'd be lucky to have any points if I were."

The girl slapped his face. "Duuuude, ain't nothing holdin' me back," she rapped out.

He slapped her back. "Giiiirl, ain't no one stoppin' me now." The pair laughed as everyone observed them doing a handshake all their own. They slapped each other's hands three times then dabbed on what would have been the fourth. They followed that up by grabbing the other by the shoulders, head butting each other and pretending to stagger back before turning quickly on their heels and grabbing the other's hand, bringing them to a hug.

As the two laughed, the friends couldn't help but be curious. They were clearly siblings, no doubt about it. Twins, most everyone assumed. Both of them had crimson hair, the boy's being a messy scruff that he kept under control with his baseball cap, while the girl's was long and up in a ponytail. They both also had sapphire blue eyes and creamy white skin. They dressed only slightly different. The girl had on a pair of white shoes, black shorts, and a yellow hoodie with four black bowmen arrows on the front of it, two going left, two going right, as well as two along each sleeve, next to each other, and pointing in opposite directions. The boy was also wearing white shoes, but had on yellow sweatpants on, two black arrows on each pant leg that mirrored the ones on his sister's sleeves. He had a black t-shirt on, with yellow arrows designed in the same way as his sister's shirt. They both wore black armbands embroidered with four silver bowmen arrows, forming a square. The brother was slightly taller than the sister, still shorter than Tsubaki, but taller than Patty. Said sister was roughly the same height as the pistol.

When the siblings separated, they noticed the company staring at them. "Oh, looks like school's out for the day," the brother said, putting a hand on his hip and leaning forward.

"Yep," said his sister, putting her arms behind her head and leaning back a bit. "You guys wanna play a round? One-on-one's getting kinda boring." The friends seemed surprised by their casual nature, but then nodded. "Sweet. This should be fun."

"Yeah. Been a while since we played against others," the boy said.

The group approached the court and the siblings went to drink some water. Due to only having nine people, Kid insisted that one of the girls be the referee. Since Maka was still a bit clueless on how to play, Liz volunteered. She had been absent for basketball before, so she knew Kid would be alright with her sitting out. The groups separated into their usual teams before Kid told the brother to go on Maka's team, and the girl that she was on his team.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Kid suddenly said, putting a hand to his head. "We didn't even give you our names. Didn't ask you for yours, either."

The twins laughed a bit at this. "It's cool," said the sister.

"Yeah, no worries. We're in the same boat," said the brother. "I'm Hunter Madison," he said, holding his hand out to shake Kid's.

The grim reaper shook it, then turned to Hunter's sister. "Archer Madison," she said, grabbing his hand.

"Death the Kid. Those two are Liz and Patty, my partners," he said, pointing to the sisters.

The Madison siblings looked at him in shock. "You're Lord Death's son?" Hunter asked. Kid nodded.

"No way! We didn't expect to meet you this soon," Archer said, smiling.

The friends all looked surprised themselves, but it didn't take long for them to take two and two and make four.

"Does that mean you're the new students starting Monday?" Maka asked.

Hunter was grinning wide, putting an arm around Archer's shoulders. "Yep. Us and our meister."

"Cross Stitch has been dying to enroll in the academy. Made his day when we were given the okay," Archer said, not smiling as much as her brother, but still equally as excited.

"That's your meister's name, huh?" Black Star asked, walking forward.

The pair gave him a yep before giving them a thumbs up.

"Just so long as he knows my name is cooler, we should get along just fine. No one is better than this star right here."

Black Star started laughing at that point, leaving the two sweat dropping. _This guy is such an idiot,_ they both thought, looking annoyed.

Tsubaki stepped forward then, bowing. "Hi, I'm Tsubaki. Sorry about Black Star, he gets carried away sometimes. But don't worry, I'm sure your meister's great," she said, smiling.

"Oh...um, thanks," they said, giving her a good fake smile so she wouldn't worry about them. _This girl's his partner? How?_ They thought.

"Yeah," Maka then said. "I'm Maka! This is my partner, Soul."

Again, the pair looked surprised. "Maka, huh?" Archer said.

"Wouldn't be the same Maka that Death Scythe threatened me to stay away from, would it?" Hunter asked immediately after, arching a brow at the ashen-blonde.

The look on Maka's face said more than enough to answer their question. "Yeah, he's her old man," Soul said walking forward, hands in his pockets. "You two wouldn't happen to be twins, would you? You seem a lot closer than other siblings," he said.

Hunter snorted, grinning. "Well, technically, I'm older."

Archer shoved him. "Only by two minutes, and that's only because the doctor got you out first," she said, glaring at her brother.

"Still the older brother," Hunter said, looking away and crossing his arms. Archer then kicked him so he'd fall to the concrete. "Ow! Damn that's smart!" Hunter said, holding his face.

His sister smirked and said: "Smarter than you, even."

Hunter got right back up and grabbed Archer by her collar. "You wanna fight, Bitch?" He said, glaring at her.

Her gaze hardened. "Sure, Dick, but you're gonna lose...again."

Tsubaki got between them then. "Hey, hey you guys. Let's just calm down and play a game of basketball, okay?" She said, trying to put some distance between the twins. They only just met. She didn't want them fighting, and she was determined to try and stop it.

Much to her surprise though, not much effort was needed. "You're right!" Hunter said, smirking as he lowered his sister. "That'll be the best way to take her down."

"Fine by me," Archer said, giving him a smirk. The two separated into their teams before Archer asked: "Hey, who are the team captains?" Fingers pointed to Maka and Kid. Archer looked between the two and her brother. "How about we add a reward, for fun? Whichever team wins, the winning captain gets to be Cross Stitch's first opponent at school," she said.

Hunter put a hand to his chin. "Cross Stitch wouldn't mind, I don't think. But he'd probably wanna use us, meaning his opponent should be with their partners. Is that alright with you two?"

Maka nodded, giving him a determined smile. "Yeah. That sounds great."

"I must agree," Kid said. "It would be nice to duel another multi-weapon meister."

"Cool," the twins said.

Black Star gave the ball to Liz, who approached the center of the court. Soul and Black Star got ready, waiting for the ball to be thrown in the air, each person on the outside eyeing who they were guarding. Maka took Kid, Patty took Tsubaki, and Hunter took Archer. Just before she was going to throw the ball though, Liz paused, looking at Hunter and Archer for a second. "Hey, come to think of it, where is your meister? Shouldn't he be here with you two? I mean, you are his friends, right?"

The two stopped for a second, looking at the pistol. "Oh, it's nothing like that," Archer said, giving them a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, Cross Stitch's mom is in town, right now. She's usually pretty busy traveling and he doesn't get to visit his dad here, all that much. He wants to take advantage of the family time before his mom leaves. That's all," Hunter said.

Maka looked at him then, a wave of concern washing over her. "Oh, are they divorced?" She couldn't stop herself from asking.

The twins paused for a second, smiling before shaking their heads. "No, they're actually good friends. Cross Stitch was their happy little accident, so they try to spend time together whenever they can." Archer said.

"Yeah, it's nothing bad like that," Hunter said before looking back at Liz. "Now, let's get started! We're gonna kick these guys' asses." Hunter said, looking back at his sister.

"You bet!" Said Black Star.

"In your dreams," Soul said. No one else spoke after that. Liz got herself ready, then threw the ball into the air.

* * *

_**This was a much longer update than I was anticipating. BUT it was well worth it. I wanted to give Hunter and Archer some time to be introduced. Probably gonna dial back to Cross Stitch's family before making a chapter on his first day. ANYWAYS, thank you guys for reading. Please drop a review. Again, first Soul Eater fic. Just tell me what you think. It's really encouraging so I can continue the story.  
**_

**_Sincerely,_  
_~ K. Fang-sama_**


	3. Chapter 3

_**This is moving at a good pace. That makes me happy. I'm trying to give my OCs some depth before I dive too far into the story itself. Make their interactions feel more organic, both with the main characters in the Anime, as well as with each other, ya know?**_

_**Anyways, let's get to the next chapter.**_

* * *

Cross Stitch

**Chapter Three**

Lucinda, Cross Stitch, and Stein were all at Patchwork Lab, getting ready to have an old-fashioned Friday night dinner together, from when the parents lived together. At least, that's what they were doing. Lucinda was now pacing in the dining room, her cell phone to her ear, an annoyed look on her face. She had apologized to her son and his father more than once now, and as the conversation on the other line kept escalating, the more distance she made between her and the entrance to the kitchen until she was just out in the hallway.

When the door clicked behind her, father and son both let out a sigh of frustration.

"Every damn visit," Cross Stitch said under his breath, returning to the partially frozen beef his mother had put through the slicer for dinner, moving to season them. "After thirteen years, why can't they just leave it alone? Can nothing be sacred when I come here?" He asked of no one.

Stein knew what was eating at his son. The exasperation was completely warranted by everyone in the house, even Lucinda. They became partners when they were fifteen, had Cross Stitch when they were nineteen, and lived together up until their son was almost three. One would think the doctor would have earned their trust by this point, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Stein sighed again at the thought, continuing to cut the onions in front of him. "Her parents never liked me, you know? They always fear for her safety when she's here. Yours too," he said, trying to say something to calm his son down.

It wasn't working. "But nothing happens!" Cross Stitch said, slamming another spice container on the counter before mixing the beef together. "You've known Mama for years, and the only times you took the scalpel to us was when we needed it," he continued, getting more frustrated as he mixed, eventually slamming the bowl on the counter. "Why can't they just see things as they are and leave us alone? Why is it not okay to be Stein's son?"

The question made the father freeze before turning to his son. Cross Stitch's head was down, his meaty-covered hands clenched into fists as he rested heavily on the counter using just his elbows. He wasn't shocked by what he said, not in the slightest. The old farts tried to go behind their backs and change the boy's name from Cross Stitch Stein to Kallen Heartgrave when he was only six, and that was while they were babysitting him. The boy's feelings of dejection were completely reasonable.

No, what caught Stein's attention was the wavelength that came off the boy, something he couldn't quite place, but knew it was different. So, putting down the knife, he asked, "Cross Stitch, did they try to do anything before you got here?"

He received a nod, his son's head lowering as he continued to think about it. Another sigh escaped Stein's lips, moving behind the boy so he could hug him. He could feel Cross Stitch try to restrain himself, feeling his frustration rise again. Whatever it was, it pushed him more than usual.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Stein asked him.

Cross Stitch started shaking now. He knew his father; he wouldn't make him talk about it if he didn't want to. The thought of what happened made his blood boil. A part of him didn't want to bring it up to calm things down, knowing how pissed his dad would be if he knew. Knowing the scientist as he did, though, he wouldn't be calm now that he knew his mother's parents pulled another stunt. Especially one that got to him this quickly.

So, after a few moments, Cross Stitch nodded, letting out a calming breath before moving to the sink behind him. He started washing his hands, taking in his surroundings to try and collect himself. His parents had turned the back half and upstairs of the building into more of a home, creating a distinct separation between home and work, without it alienating anyone. They both liked to cook, so the kitchen was the room where they compromised the most. The backsplash was still white tile, the grooves between each one resembling blue stitches going all up, down, and across the wall in a much more uniform fashion than outside the house. The farmer's sink and faucet had a similar look to it, only the color was gold. The countertops were black with white arrows designed into them in an unorganized but charming manner. This was because of the drawers his mother picked out: red with golden handles, as well as red open shelving above them. The only thing that they didn't change was the floor, which just wouldn't work with how the rest of the lab looked. There was a fridge, freezer, stove, oven, dishwasher, and coffee maker. The last thing the large kitchen had was an island, not very big, but enough for a small family like theirs to make a meal.

_Something I wish I had more often,_ Cross Stitch thought, turning off the sink. He dried off his hands then turned to his dad, his expression betraying him. "After we found out Hunter and Archer were weapons, I decided to train with them a bit before enrolling. One night, they left to have dinner with their parents and Mama went out on a date, so I was by myself," he said, watching his father wearily.

The man's eyes narrowed, a sour taste in his mouth already, and a feeling about where the story might be heading.

"I was just doing some studying with the cardiology book you gave me when they barged in, hooked their arms around me, then dragged me to the car. Ignoring me until we got to Grandpa's stupid school."

Steins hands went into his pockets, and he closed his eyes. He didn't want to get too angry, not in front of Cross Stitch anyways. These incidents were degrading and sometimes humiliating: he wanted Cross Stitch to be comfortable telling him about them. However, to be disregarded as the boy's father, for Lucinda's parents to not listen to him when he said the boy didn't want to head into the performing arts was more than a bit infuriating. He and Lucinda had both denied them permission to enroll him on numerous occasions, knowing how much Cross Stitch wanted to be a meister. But of course, their words fell on deaf ears.

_Now that I think about it,_ Stein thought,_ it's worse that they don't listen to Lucinda. She's their daughter, his mother, and they still went behind her back and did this._ The thought didn't help quell Stein's rising bad mood. The only thing that kept him in check was his son, and bringing his attention back to him. "I'm gonna hazard a guess that that's not all they did, is it?" He asked, resisting the urge to grab a cigarette. Another compromise he made with Lucinda: no smoking while cooking.

Cross Stitch's head lowered again, a loud groan escaping him as he recalled what happened. "They made all of my electives boring shit like painting. They ordered all the teachers to call me Kallen. I got hit with a ruler when I tried to correct them. And as if that weren't bad enough." Cross Stitch stopped, noticing his voice was rising. His chest was beginning to hurt, his head suddenly pounding. He used the counter to steady himself, not quite sure he could handle continuing without support.

Without warning, Cross Stitch found himself being lifted under his arms and sat down at the island. His father was taller than most men, so it was easy to feel small around him. Being picked up as if he were still a little kid didn't lessen the feeling, either. But, his father simply carried on, taking the seat next to him and using a finger to raise his head to look at him. Stein was smiling at him, moving his hand so he could ruffle his son's hair.

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me. I can sense how this is hurting you," he said.

Cross Stitch was shocked for only a second before remembering who he was talking to, smiling at the man. "Your Soul Perception's as sharp as always. Can't wait for mine to get there." The statement got a chuckle from them, a wave of relief coming off both of them. They stared at each other for a moment before Cross Stitch's gaze hardened. "But you should still know. Mama's gonna be less available when she leaves Sunday, so I'd like having someone help me get through it. That takes clarity and openness to do," he said, his eyes softening.

Stein's smile didn't fade. Cross Stitch was still young, but he had a decent understanding on how to help himself emotionally, at least around those he trusted. It allowed him to open up, regardless of how comfortable he felt about the situation. So long as opening up helped in the long-run, he didn't care. It was a queer combination of analytical and empathetic mindsets he picked up from his parents, one that no one was quite sure how to explain. Not even Cross Stitch. However it occurred, the father was proud of it.

"They..." Cross Stitch felt bile building up in his throat, having to shake his head to make the feeling go away. Stein's hand moved to the boy's shoulder, waiting for him to collect himself again. When he did, he looked back at the doctor, looking up in an expression that mixed anger with disgust. Despite that, he spoke at a rather level volume, trying to control his voice. "They tried to map out my life. Dance competitions, art exhibits, show tours. Fuck, they tried to pick where my house would be, and they were trying to get me to choose a fiancée. They paid fucking families to line up their daughters for me! Just like they did when they wanted me to make friends with their crowd. I was split on what I wanted to do more: die on the spot or rip their faces apart. Thankfully Mama showed up before I had to decide."

The younger Stein collapsed into his arms on the counter, his father frozen for a moment before moving to rub his back. He could feel it. His father wanted to dissect them again. It wasn't a hard feeling to stir up, he knew, but when the situation involved him, Cross Stitch could only imagine how much more lethal his father could be. Honestly, it was the only part of himself he was afraid of. There was definitely some inherent madness within the Stein gene pool, partnered with a level of sadism. His father had been very attentive in this regard, helping the boy redirect his urges in ways that proved more smiled upon, but never in a way that was demeaning or discouraging. Especially when he showed an interest in his father's medical books.

The teen raised his head, smiling. That was the real perk of staying with his father. There was no shadow he had to hide behind. He could learn to be himself, as well as anything else he was curious about.

"What are you thinking about?" Stein asked him, curious where his good mood came from. He was still upset about what occurred before his son's arrival, but he was relieved to feel the boy's mood shift.

Violet eyes looked at greenish-yellow ones, smiling still. "Just some good memories I have here," he said.

Stein laughed, sensing more of the boy's relief. "Oh really? Like what?"

Cross Stitch leaned forward, his elbow propping up his arm, and his head resting in his hand. "Several things. Like the day I first tried using your suture kit, the first batch of frogs we dissected, that time the bucket of barnacles fell on me." Stein laughed at that last one. He ordered the vat to run experiments with. Cross Stitch was excited about actually helping in the lab for a change. The seven year old ran around staring at everything, asking about their uses, and if they would use them. He wasn't paying attention when he ran into one of the cabinets, and he paid for it by being covered in the subjects of the experiment. The only thing that was close to being funnier was when his young son wriggled an arm free, removed the bucket from his head and said: "Papa, these smell funny. Is that normal?" The experiment had to wait a day, but it was worth it.

As his father laughed, Cross Stitch let himself chuckle a bit. As much as it sucked to take seven baths after that, it was still a good memory. He was way more hyper as a kid, which was why looking back on how his father tried to handle him was entertaining. His mother too, but less so because of her parents. There was only one thing he found more amusing.

"And of course, I can't forget the day I learned that you have a crush on Mama." the boy said.

His father fell out of his seat with a yelp, landing with an 'oof,' his feet in the air. Cross Stitch was chuckling, looking down at his father with pure amusement. _Worth it,_ he thought. The man may make him pay later, but he didn't care.

"What are you talking about?" Stein managed to ask, in a bit of pain from where he landed. He again resembled a deer in headlights, his mind racing, unable to contain the expression.

His son didn't answer immediately. He first stood up to help his father off the floor, unable to take him seriously in the position he was in. Once the professor was on his feet, Cross Stitch moved back to the counter, grabbing another pan, salt and pepper, and flour before answering the man.

"You know exactly what I mean, Papa. You've been in love with Mama for a long time, now. What else but love would keep you from experimenting on your old weapon partner? Especially after you made her into a Death Scythe?"

Stein's expression remained as it was, trying to not blush as his son poured flour into pan, seasoned it with the salt and pepper, mixed it, then added the beef to it.

"You should start the onion ring batter, Papa. We want to go straight to serving, don't we?" Cross Stitch asked, smirking.

Stein was frozen for a second, but grateful his son decided to stop. He began his job while his son continued what he was doing. Once the meat was covered, it was returned to the bowl and put next to the stove. He grabbed the onions his father sliced and put them in a different bowl, next to the meat. The teen then grabbed a few more onions and the cutting board the scientist was using before. He peeled them, cut off one of the ends, then ran them through a mandolin. When he was done, he put them in a bowl and put them by his father.

Cross Stitch moved to one of the drawers, where the fryer was kept. Stein had finished the batter by this point and should have moved on to the bread or garlic butter so Lucinda wouldn't have to do it when she came in. However, he couldn't stop himself from asking: "What makes you think I'm in love with your mother, really?"

The kid was caught off guard with the question, having been in the middle of plugging the fryer in. But he smirked again. "Heh, it's actually quite obvious," he said to his father, not turning around until the device was plugged in. "You always dance with her whenever she asks you to, despite the fact you hate dancing. And you're always smiling when you're dancing with her."

Stein turned away, pulling out a fake smile. "I don't hate dancing. I danced with her all the time. It's the only reason she considered being my weapon," he said.

" 'We're both exhausted, Lu. Do we have to dance?' 'Please, Franken?' 'Okay, Lu.' " his son mimicked.

Again, Stein looked shocked. There were several nights Lucinda had wanted to dance after putting Cross Stitch to bed. He didn't think his son was still awake for any of those instances.

"There's another thing, too. You'll never deny the chance to hold Mama if she'll let you. You look happier than usual when you do. Of course, even if none of that applied, her calling you by name gives it away," Cross Stitch said, moving to the other side of the kitchen to grab a frying pan.

Stein eyed him, his gaze hard. "What about it? She calls me by my first name. That doesn't make her that different," he said. True, very few people called him by his first name, but that didn't make them unique.

Cross Stitch laughed. "That's because you don't see yourself when she does. All she has to do is say 'Franken' and your face goes completely blank, like you just heard the most beautiful thing in the world. And you stare at her like she's a goddess sent from the heavens. If she rolls the 'R,' you'll actually blush. It's only not obvious to Mama because she assumes that it's part of who you are," he explained, setting the pan down, his smirk morphing into something more quizzical. "She came to the DWMA six months before you became partners. It's been almost twenty years since then. Why don't you tell her how you feel? You don't trust that thing she's dating now more than yourself, do you?"

His father looked surprised once more, but then turned away, his usual stoic nature forcing itself back to his face. "What kind of life will she have if she stays with me? Who cares who it's with? Don't you think your mother deserves to be happy?"

"Don't you think _you_ deserve to be happy?" Cross Stitch asked, not missing the tone of his father's voice. His father could fake many emotions, but none when it came to his mother. The sound of defeat wasn't something he could cover in this instance, even if he thought he could.

They stared at each other for what seemed like hours, only to be interrupted when the door to the kitchen opened. Lucinda was shoving her phone in her pocket, giving the older Stein time to recompose himself.

"So, what was it about this time? Cross Stitch went over the last abduction, so no need to beat around the bush," he said.

Lucinda looked up at him then, staring for a moment before looking at her son, then back at Stein. "Oh, they just tried to talk me out of it. Then they tried to insist that he's actually a weapon. I had to yell at them to call him by his actual name...again." Lucinda shook her head, looking back at the prep work the two had done, a smile forming. "Well, look at you two, father and son tangoing through dinner prep. I'm almost jealous, Frrranken." She was teasing, but the rolled 'R' didn't fail to make Stein blush, as Cross Stitch said it would.

"I'll cook the beef. The bread still needs to be sliced, and we haven't made the garlic butter," he said to her, covering his face by removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

Lucinda turned to him smiling, a hand on her hip. "Ok, I'll get on that. Don't forget the American Cheese, Frrranken."

"I won't," he said, trying to keep his voice level. He then moved to the fridge, avoiding her gaze as he searched for the cheese. He hoped the steam from the cooking would keep her from wondering why his face was red.

Cross Stitch watched his parents, caught between wanting to laugh and wanting to bang his head on the island in disbelief. _My parents..._ he thought before looking at his mother. "They're not coming over any time soon, are they?" He asked.

Lucinda moved for the oil and the butter before turning to her son, a smirk on her face. "No son, they're a bit incapacitated at the moment. I made sure they learned their lesson from last time."

The teen smiled at her, feeling a wave of relief. He grabbed the smallest sauté pan and came over to her. She put in some oil, butter, garlic powder, then went for some actual cloves of garlic. She had Cross Stitch pass the oil back to his father so he could start cooking the beef.

They were just about to get started on their cooking lesson before Lucinda spoke again. "Oh, just so you two know: I also took the liberty of calling Lord Death. I told him the situation and made sure he understood that there were to be no changes to your enrollment, Cross Stitch, unless your father told him of it."

She then turned back to look at Stein. "I didn't think to ask you about that plan, so I thought I should bring it up and make sure that's good by you, Franken," she said, looking a bit concerned.

Stein removed his glasses, forcing himself to ignore the feeling of awe he got from hearing her call him by name. "That's actually a great idea," he said, pulling out a cloth to clean his lenses. "We should pick a second person to trust with this, I think. In case I'm not nearby," he added, looking up at her.

Lucinda nodded, putting a hand to her chin. "Well, Spirit's passionate about children. At least his own child, anyways. I'm sure he won't mind. He was in the room when I called Lord Death, so we wouldn't have to go through the whole story again with him. Would he do?" She asked.

"Yeah, that would probably be best," Stein said, drizzling oil into the pan and turning it on.

It was only after this that he put his glasses back on, which caused Lucinda to stare at him, a hand to her chin as she looked at his face.

"What is it? Is there something wrong?" He asked her, concerned. She usually didn't have that contemplative look on her face unless she thought something was wrong.

"Huh?" She said, her head perking straight before shaking it, a smile on her face. "It's nothing. I was just wondering if you ever considered wearing contacts sometimes," she said, turning around and mincing some garlic cloves.

"Contact lenses?" Stein questioned, testing the heat of the pan with cold water.

"Uh-huh," she said, putting the herb into the fatty concoction.

"Why? Is something wrong with my glasses?" Stein asked her as she turned around and began walking to the stove to melt the butter and mix the flavors together. He had messed up his glasses without noticing before. She was the one who usually noticed, though. Stein had no reason to dress up for any occasion, so he didn't check them very often.

Lucinda put the pan down before answering, turning on the burner next to the frying pan before answering. "No, not at all, Franken," she said, moving the handle so it was at a safe angle before looking at him. "You just look very handsome without your glasses on. I can see your eyes, and more of your face, honestly. You're quite attractive."

The comment got Stein to blush again, which didn't go unnoticed by Lucinda and Cross Stitch, who both started giggling.

"Don't be embarrassed, Franken. You've got a lot to offer," she said, hugging his arm tightly as a wave of happiness returned to her. Even she had to admit, there was a lovely air of freedom and relief that came with seeing her old partner. He was always good to be around, even on his off days.

He allowed himself a smirk. "Oh, I know. The slab is just out there and to the right," he said, smirking.

Lucinda punched playfully. "Not what I meant, Franken, and you know it," she said, moving to grab the loaf of Italian bread and cut in half horizontally. She separated the halves and moved to grab a cookie sheet, placing the halves on them and moving to find a brush. She smiled before returning to the stove. "You're a great cook, to start. I remember the first time you made steak sandwiches and onion rings for me."

Stein laughed at that. "You mean the first time you let me back in my own kitchen since we became partners? Yeah, I remember that too. You looked ready to run for the hills when you saw there wasn't a massive salad to go with it."

Cross Stitch raised a brow. "How did you get Mama to eat this if she was on one of her health binges?" He asked his father.

Lucinda glared at her son. "I don't have health binges," she said flatly.

"Oh, yes you do," both Steins said without batting an eye.

Before Lucinda could speak, Cross Stitch spoke again. "Mama, you took bread out of the house completely for eight months one time. I couldn't even eat healthy grains because of that," he said, shuddering at the thought. So much kale...

"Let's not forget how many years it took me to get you to stop making those monster salads you always ate. I've never been so sick of salad in my life," Stein added, understanding his son's pain. A fresh salad made every night for dinner, large enough that she could eat it all before the next dinner, only to make a new one. Very little variety between each of them. Sometimes she'd add hard-boiled eggs or pepperoni, but those instances were few and far between. The only time they got a break was whenever he did the cooking, which was half the reason he took it more seriously once she became his partner.

Lucinda turned on her heels, crossing her arms and closing her eyes. "Hmph! You two just don't like your vegetables," she said.

"Not the same way over and over again, no," the two replied.

It was quiet for a few moments but then father and son turned to each other. "I got her to eat it because it was after our first dance competition together. We won and I said: 'I've been putting up with your meal plan because dancing with you is part of being your meister and you wanted to win. We won. Now I think I deserve something I want, for a change. And since I sucked it up, you can suck it up this one time.' She tried to make a salad while I was cooking, so I fed her an onion ring and made sure she swallowed it," the father explained, a bored look on his face.

The mother blushed. "Must you tell him about the embarrassing memories?" The boys laughed at her.

"I mean, you two get to embarrass me with old memories. I think this just balances things out," Cross Stitch said, smirking at his mother.

Stein chuckled. "Yeah. Besides, it's fun making you blush."

She shoved him when he said that, her face just as red. "You both are awful," she said looking down, arms crossed and her face more red than before.

Her old partner smiled. It wasn't like he was lying. "I'm sorry," he said to her, giving her a hug. "Could you help us with dinner now, please?" He asked her. The brunette looked at the scientist then, her face a little softer. She was still a little annoyed, and her face was still a bit red, but he knew she wasn't mad at him anymore.

She jabbed him in the stomach then, making him lean forward so she could spoon him in a deeper hug. "Of course I will, Franken," she said, her eyes closed and a big smile on her face.

Stein froze again, not noticing she let go in time before hitting the kitchen floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lucinda said, helping her old meister up. "I didn't think I hit you that hard. I'm so sorry," she said, steadying him.

"It's okay," Stein said, taking off his glasses, noticing one of the temples was crooked, and probably had a broken hinge to go with it. "So long as nothing burned, it's all good," he said, putting the things on the island. Nothing he could do about it now.

"Oh no," Cross Stitch said, "we're fine."

"Well, that's a relief," Lucinda said, noticing her garlic butter was ready. She released Stein and moved back to the bread with the sauté pan. As she put the butter on the bread with the brush, making sure some actual garlic got on them, Stein felt his smile fade.

_She would never be happy with me,_ he thought. He believed it. It was true. And for that, he was grateful for her putting up with him and giving him a family. One he would never have without her. That he knew.

* * *

_**These chapters seem to get longer with each update, it seems. Hm... please review. It's good for the motivation. I'll be back with another update soon.**_

_**Sincerely,**_  
_**~ K. Fang-sama**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Well, here's gonna be the real test. Putting all the kiddies together. I hope this turns out well. I'm trying to come up with ways to differentiate Hunter and Archer as characters, also, so this will be quite the challenge.  
**_

_**Alright, here we go.**_

* * *

Cross Stitch

**Chapter Four**

Monday arrived much slower than anyone had anticipated. The bustle and excitement that came with meeting the new weapons Friday put a kick in everyone's step. Hunter and Archer were active and friendly, very competitive, but undeniably good people. They played until one of the teams made it to thirty points, seeing how the stakes were who got to fight the new guy first. The twins made it close, but Hunter's quick thinking couldn't help Maka's lack of skill. In the end, the score was thirty to twenty-two, a much closer game than Maka could usually pull off. Kid's team won, so he was granted the right to challenge Cross Stitch first.

The friends sat at the benches, all asking about him, wondering what the new meister was like. Was he kind? Friendly? Cool? The twins actually laughed when Soul asked them that last one. "Arguably the coolest guy we know," Archer said.

"Yeah," Hunter said. "His grandparents tried to buy him friends, but even as a kid, he knew it wasn't normal. So, he always wanted to play with us. As we got older, he told us to never lie to him, and he'd never lie to us. He cares more about people being real with him than anything," Hunter explained.

"His grandparents did that? Why?" Liz asked.

The two rolled their eyes. "To hell if we know," Hunter said.

"They've always been pretty controlling, really. They tried to map out the rest of his life, once. He looked about ready to kill someone when he got home," Archer recalled, making her brother shudder.

"Aw man, that's beyond not cool," Soul said at hearing that, his eyes a little wide. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

The twins gaped for a second then turned to Soul, waving their arms and smiling nervously. "Don't worry about it. It's fine," Archer said.

"Yeah. Even if they were still a big issue, they're part of the reason he's as good as he is. Trust me, you wouldn't know that they did that if you just went up and talked to him," Hunter said, a laugh escaping him.

The friends looked at their new companions nervously, sweat dropping from their faces before moving on. "It sounds like you really look up to Cross Stitch. You must be really good friends with him," Tsubaki said, smiling.

The twins stopped then, staring at her before giving pause, mulling over her deduction. "We are close," Archer said. "But honestly...I don't think Cross Stitch considers anyone his friend," she said, not as upset as she was frustrated by the fact.

"Yeah..." Hunter said, scratching behind his heads. "He doesn't trust the word. What we know about him is from what we've seen, he's rarely confided anything in us. Hell, he outright said he didn't know how to be someone's friend. Just promised he'd try to learn how," he added, looking a bit defeated.

Again, the friends all stared at them. For as much as they praised their meister, the twins seemed to pity him quite a bit. The group's image of what Cross Stitch was like varied only slightly, seeing a depressed kid at the forefront in all of their images of him.

Archer shook her head after a moment, elbowing her brother before speaking again. "That was years ago, though. He's been coming out of his shell a bit over the years. Got more open when we offered to be his weapons. He was beyond excited. Quite the determined fighter, too," she said, recalling the day with a smile on her face.

They could sense how Cross Stitch felt as he moved, pretending to fight an imaginary opponent. Swinging, lunging, blocking, everything. He was far more open, more flexible, more at ease with himself and his surroundings. They knew they had to be his weapons then and there. The albino teen was much more emotive when they asked him to choose them, too. In under a minute, his expression went from surprise, to disbelief, to relief, to overwhelming joy. It was the first time he had ever moved to hug them, he was so happy.

Hunter chuckled, putting a hand on his forehead as he looked back at that moment. Cross Stitch told them he was just about to ask them to be his weapons. He wasn't sure how he should have done it, which is why them asking lifted a weight off his shoulders. Their meister looked about ready to cry, honestly. He couldn't believe that they were willing to fight alongside him, knowing how much he sucked at opening up to them. It gave him a kick in his step, and an ability to rely on them a little more than he had previously allowed himself.

"Oh yeah. He takes training very seriously. Though with how he acts, ya wouldn't really guess it," he said, looking up at the sun.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Black Star asked them.

The twins smirked at him, waving him off before saying, "You'll know when you meet him."

The group talked for a little while longer, but the two weapons left soon after.

Now, everyone was heading to school. The friends met at the base of the stairs before climbing up them. Black Star led the group up, followed by Tsubaki, then Kid, Liz and Patty, and then Maka and Soul down at the end. Black Star was talking about how stupid it was that everyone was talking about some emo kid and not him, continuing on his tangent for most of the walk.

"He's really starting to piss me off," Maka said as he started complaining about her now, not being able to fight said imagined emo because of their loss on Friday. She was glaring at his back, and very tempted to use a Maka Chop.

Soul sighed. "Don't worry about it. It'll settle down by the time we get inside," he said. As self-centered as Black Star was, Soul knew him well enough to know how long his rants would last. They were halfway up the stairs when he said this, Maka's patience being steadily more tested with each passing moment, until a voice interrupted Black Star's bantering.

"Soul! Maka!" A male voice yelled.

Everyone stopped, looking down the steps. The twins they met Friday were rushing up the stairs, tugging someone up along with them, presumably their meister. The pair weren't dressed in their sweats like the first time they met.

Once again, they dressed very similarly, but their outfits were still different to one another. Archer was wearing a neon blue, sleeveless, full length dress, with slits up the sides, and two black bowmen arrows on the skirt (one pointed up, the other down). The clasps that buttoned the front of her dress were, again, four bowmen arrows; black, two going to the left, and two going to the right. She wore black pants, a pair of white boots, and a white lace hairband. As before, her hair was held back, but this time it was done with a black ribbon.

Hunter had on a sleeveless blouse with a black tie around his neck. Over that, he wore a black trench coat, similar to Maka's with some differences. The coat had a neon blue trim, a high collar, and straps in place of buttons. Four straps in fact, in the shape of neon blue bowmen arrows. The sides of the trench coat only had two bowmen arrows, one on each side pointing up. This was because the high collar had two along the outside edges, one on each side, pointing down. He wore neon blue pants with white boots, and he had a white headband tied around his forehead.

Once again, both siblings were wearing the armbands the group saw on Friday, but over a pair of white fingerless gloves with a neon blue trim. The clothes were bright and definitely made the pair stand out in an elegant, refined, and even tough manner. Compared to the guy they were dragging up the steps, though, it might have been due to lack of competition. "Hey guys, how ya doing?" Archer asked as they stopped, the twins smiling brightly while the person they dragged up caught his breath.

"Woah, Hunter and Archer! You're looking good!" Liz said, looking back at them.

"Thanks!" They said, using their free hands to grab the back of their heads.

"Yeah! You guys look like you came from a cool movie!" Patty said, ogling over their clothes.

The siblings blushed, not sure what to say, aside from another 'thank you.'

Maka stepped towards them. "So, did you guys come to look around before classes?" She asked.

"Uh-huh," they said, nodding as Soul looked past them.

The person they held by the arms had his back to the group. His hair was wet, held messily and loosely in a ponytail. His purple leather tank top was only half on, and he was clinging onto three things for dear life, one of them being his pair of stitch-designed boots, seeing as how they weren't on his feet. In his other hand was a black backpack with stitching in the design, as well as a white jacket with stitches along the seams of the sleeves. He was out of breath, his head hanging low, still not registering the two holding him had stopped.

"Does that make this guy Cross Stitch, then?" Soul asked, staring at the disheveled teen with wide eyes. He was surprised the weapons would drag him out the door the way he was.

The twins perked up, feeling their meister shift as he stood straight, a large wave of annoyance radiating off him. Then he dropped his items, grabbed their arms, and spun around. He had successfully thrown Archer to his left and Hunter to his right after only a couple spins, both landing with a hard thud. He stopped with his back facing the group again, putting his other arm through the hole of his shirt before grabbing one of his boots. It was only at this point that the group saw the guy's toned muscles, as his shirt outlined his body well.

"What the fuck, you two?!"

Everyone's eyes widened at the sudden outburst, watching as he tried getting his shoes on without sitting down.

"I said to give me a few more minutes. Do you really think I wanted to go out like this?" He said, managing to get the boot on and starting with the other. A growl escaped him. "I don't care which of you is dressed better than the other. I don't care how much you want to show off. I don't care how badly you wanted me to meet your new friends," he said, getting the second boot on and putting on his jacket. "All of that could have waited the three minutes it would have taken for me to finish," he said more calmly, adjusting his collar as he turned around. There was something everyone found familiar about Cross Stitch, but no one could put their finger on it.

"We were running late," Hunter complained, sitting up from the rubble. He definitely looked roughed up now, the throw having caused the step to break under him. "You're the one who decided to do morning training, anyways," he said, glaring at his meister.

"Yeah," Archer said, getting up from a similar position. "Besides, your father would have killed us if we were late on our first day," she said.

Cross Stitch turned so he could see both of them, glaring once more. The look made the twins freeze, legitimately frightened to get up from where they were.

"And class doesn't start for over half an hour. We would have been fine." Cross Stitch then undid the ponytail, looking in his bag for a second. "Dammit! I didn't pack my spare," he said, huffing as he ran his free hand through his unbrushed hair. His first day, and he looked like a hot mess.

"Here. Take mine."

The albino paused, turning his head. Death the Kid had walked forward, holding out a black comb with white bristles. He was smiling at Cross Stitch, knowing what Liz was like when it came to her looks, though it was in a different facet. She took pride in her appearance, and for as much crap that he got making them late for keeping Gallows Manor in order, she could be twice as bad. That, and the new kid's hair was just hard for him to stomach looking at.

"I'd lose my mind too if my hair was a mess. Especially in public," he said to the new meister. He truly pitied him in this instant. Such an asymmetrical disarray.

Violet eyes stared into gold ones, his face blank for a second before his shoulders slouched, a nonchalant expression on his face.

"Oh. Thank you," he said, taking the comb from Kid. He immediately went to fixing his hair, not breaking eye contact with the grim reaper. "Hope you guys didn't take offense to any of that. We're still adjusting to sharing a space with each other. It's been a rough transition, to say the least," Cross Stitch looked up at the others with a slight smile. _I still promised I'd try,_ he thought, remembering how excited Hunter and Archer were when they told them about the group on Saturday. They were determined to be his friend, but as a result, no one in their hometown wanted to be theirs. He had promised them that he'd learn how to be their friend, and when the concern of socializing came up, he promised he'd try to make friends with others. _Not sure how well it's gonna go, all things considered._

Soul looked at him. "Don't sweat it!" He said, walking down to the other albino. The scythe then introduced himself, offering to shake Cross Stitch's hand.

After one more comb through his hair, he returned the gesture. The other six followed suit, the two weapons on the ground soon rejoining them.

"You definitely seem like a cool guy," Soul said after all the introductions were done, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I think we'll get along just fine."

Cross Stitch gave him a smile, closing his eyes. It wasn't a nervous one, more optimistic than anything. "I hope you're right about that," he said, opening his eyes and sticking his hands in his pockets. "You guys seem pretty cool yourselves." Everyone chuckled for a second, then Cross Stitch turned back to Kid. "I'll clean your comb before giving it back to you. Before our fight this afternoon," he said.

"Thank you," Kid said, smiling. "I look forward to our duel. How about we head inside so you can look around?" The new trio nodded at Kid, following the group up the steps.

They didn't have a lot of time to look around, but they were shown the essential rooms. The mission board, the cafeteria, the entrance to the Death Room, the gym, the infirmary, pretty much everywhere they could cover in the half hour of free time they had. Cross Stitch seemed to be absorbing his surroundings. He showed signs of excitement and enthusiasm, but for the most part, analyzed in silence. Hunter and Archer were much more open and engaging, talking with the others all along the tour. They attempted to engage Cross Stitch in conversation, but could only get a sentence or two out with each attempt, and he mostly spoke in a stoic manner.

Everyone came to understand what Hunter and Archer meant about him when they first met. He didn't seem to have a lot of people skills, and he was unsure how to respond at times. However, he gave it a shot. Trying to be courteous while also being honest. It got some of them annoyed, but the only one who outright wouldn't take it was Black Star.

"What kind of asshole says that?" He said as they approached their homeroom.

Black Star had told him his dream of surpassing God, which Cross Stitch pointed out he had a long way to go before he was even close. The response was blunt, but unlike other times, Cross Stitch had actually smirked when he said it. He even said that Black Star needed to take things more seriously if he expected to get there. The assassin couldn't quite accept how "the new emo kid" couldn't look up to him as the god he was.

Cross Stitch's expression went blank, an air of disinterest about him. "I thought I was trying to help. Aren't friends supposed to do that?" He asked, looking up at nothing. "I find it hard to believe people can have true connections with others if they lie through their teeth about something. True openness makes much more sense. You can't have that if you can't be honest with them," he said after a moment before looking back at Black Star. "Besides, everything in this world has a soul. Why wouldn't a human being be able to match the level of a god with their soul? I think your dream has plausibility to it."

Black Star stared at him for a second, not quite sure how to respond at first. In the end, he scratched the back of his head. "Man, for a guy who doesn't get people, you can sure be annoying," he said.

"I could say something similar in regard to you. Your confidence is actually a great aspect, but your ego makes it very hard for people to see," Cross Stitch said.

The two glared at each other as they entered the classroom, both refusing to break eye contact with the other. _I get the feeling this guy will definitely **not** like me by the time class starts,_ he thought. _I don't know if I mind that or not._

_Bastard. I'll show you who's the star around here,_ Black Star thought. He'd have challenged Cross Stitch right then and there, but he wouldn't take away Kid's spotlight. He was supposed to be the new guy's first opponent. The assassin would be a dim star if he robbed Kid of that.

Their weapons decided then to get between the two. "Let's go sit down. Class will start in five minutes and Professor Stein will get mad if we're not ready to get started," Tsubaki said, blocking Black Star's view of Cross Stitch.

"She's right. We shouldn't get scolded on our first day," Hunter said, trying to redirect his meister's attention.

Archer nodded. "Yeah, we don't have spots yet," she said, laughing nervously. _Please don't get angry,_ she kept thinking.

The others behind them looked at a loss, a sigh of frustration coming from most of them while Patty just giggled at them. Kid then cleared his throat, approaching Cross Stitch and his weapons. "If you three like, you can sit next to us. We sit in the row above the others," he said, obtaining their attention.

Liz smiled. "That's a great idea! We'd be a whole circle of friends if you did," she said, giving them a thumbs up.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" Patty said, fists raised to the air.

The three stared at the Thompson sisters. The thought raised the spirits of the Madison twins, while Cross Stitch's stoic expression returned to him, having forgotten Black Star almost entirely.

"If you're okay with that, sure," Cross Stitch said, not really sure if he should care.

Patty cheered before grabbing Archer by her arm, leading her up the steps. Liz walked off after Hunter, and Cross Stitch followed after Kid. _They're still trying to socialize with me, despite me annoying them. They're not awful to be around, either. I don't think sitting with them will be bad, if this continues,_ he thought.

Patty and Liz went into their row first, followed by Kid, then Cross Stitch, Hunter and Archer. Everyone was nervous when they realized Cross Stitch's seat was behind Black Star's but neither paid it much mind. Black Star took it as the best way to keep Cross Stitch from getting all the attention, while Cross Stitch didn't care. If Black Star started a fight, he had the advantage because of the higher ground.

Once seated, Maka explained what they were covering in class, as well as listing some of the subjects they studied all ready. "If you like, I can help you guys catch up," she offered with a smile. "I wouldn't want you guys to feel lost in all of this."

The twins were a little unsure how to respond, one staring at the other before looking to their meister. Cross Stitch took in their expressions but then looked at Maka with a smile. "Thank you. We're still unpacking at our place, so we could use the help," he said as the bell rang.

Maka beamed a little bit. "Okay. How about we meet at the library during free period?" She asked as Stein walked in.

"Sure," he said looking forward.

Everyone was quiet now. The professor sat in his stitched up computer chair, looking at the students with a smile.

"Alright everyone, today we'll be touching back on multi-weapon meisters, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. After that, we'll be talking more about cursed weapons and cursed weapon meisters," he said, scanning the room. The light reflected off his glasses, his smile forming into a smirk. "Before we get started though, we have three new students today." The class began whispering, everyone turning their heads to the new trio. "Would you three come up here and introduce yourselves for the class?" Stein asked, eyeing them.

They were all smiling, a knowing look in their eyes. They got up and walked to the front of the class, standing to Professor Stein's left, Hunter and Archer at Cross Stitch's sides, both standing a little further ahead of him. Their arms were crossed while Cross Stitch's were still in his pockets.

"All right, settle down everyone," Stein said, noticing that the students were getting a little louder. The only ones who didn't talk at all were the seven who walked in with them. It took a few minutes, but once everyone was silent, Stein looked at the trio. "Okay then. Tell them your name and if you're a weapon or meister," Stein instructed.

The twins looked up, confident grins on their faces. "I'm Archer Madison. I'm a weapon," Archer said, eyes narrowing.

Hunter removed one of his arms, using his thumb to point at himself. "I'm Hunter Madison. I'm also a weapon," he said.

Cross Stitch then raised his head a bit, smirking at everyone. "My name is Cross Stitch Stein. I'm a meister."

* * *

_**Aaaaaand here it is. Little shorter than last time, but that's okay. I hope this is turning out all right. I don't know if the next chapter will be the fight or not, but we'll see. Thanks for reading.**_

_**~ K. Fang-sama**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**All right, let's get to it.**_

* * *

Cross Stitch

**Chapter Five**

_Cross Stitch then raised his head a bit, smirking at everyone. "My name is Cross Stitch Stein. I'm a meister."_

The classroom went dead quiet, everyone shocked at what they just heard. Eyes were wide, jaws were dropped, and looks mixed with shock, fear and worry decorated the students faces. The three new kids looked on, staring at the class. Cross Stitch stood as he was, his smirk morphing back to his stoic expression as his weapons scanned the room. They didn't look surprised by the reactions, more contemplating them.

After another minute, Hunter spoke. "Damn, Cross Stitch," he said, staring at their new classmates. "I knew you'd surprise a few people, but I didn't expect them to go silent from shock," he added, putting his hands on his hips, bewildered.

"Yeah, seriously," Archer said, looking back at him, leaning forward a bit. "You didn't scare anyone before we came today, did you?" She asked, somewhere cross between annoyed and worried.

Her meister ignored her, instead turning his head to their homeroom teacher and asking: "You didn't tell them shit about me, did you, Papa?"

"PAPA?!" Everyone in the class screamed, still terrified. Stein responded by spinning around in his chair, laughing with sadistic delight.

In the upper rows, the trio's new companions were handling the news a bit differently from each other. Black Star looked annoyed once again, knowing that people were going to give Cross Stitch much more attention than him now. Patty started giggling, getting over her surprise pretty quickly. Tsubaki, Liz, Kid, Maka and Soul on the other hand still looked on, surprised and or scared. They suddenly found a lot of the things they learned about Cross Stitch added up based on one fact.

"This makes way too much sense," Soul said, a similar feeling of dread washing over him as when the mad scientist became their instructor. The difference this time was that it was paired with nausea alongside it.

"Yeah," Maka said more to herself than Soul. "I mean, it was kind of obvious when we met him. But who would decide to have Professor Stein's kid?" She couldn't help but ask.

"And how did no one know about him until now?" Kid asked, calming down slightly. It was undeniably weird to think of the Professor as a parent in any capacity.

The new weapons looked up at their classmates again before looking back at the cackling professor, a slightly annoyed expression on their faces before they spoke in unison. "You couldn't resist, could you, Uncle Stein?"

"UNCLE STEIN?!"

The twins looked back up at their new classmates, their expressions the same. "We've known Cross Stitch for years. We're like family," Hunter said.

"Why wouldn't that extend to his parents?" Archer asked, exasperated.

She knew Franken Stein's reputation at the academy and knew Cross Stitch's attending the school would perk a few heads, to say the least. However, she got the distinct impression that it might go against her meister in some way. Hunter on the other hand thought that family shouldn't matter. Cross Stitch was his own person. He wasn't a mini-version of his dad, it just took time to unearth his true self.

Stein was still spinning as all of this came out. "Their reactions are so comical! It was better than I imagined!" He cackled, getting another two spins in before he flopped out of his chair, the piece of furniture flying in the air before landing on top of him. Everyone in the room sweat dropped at the sight, including the professor's son.

He sighed a moment after, moving towards his father and getting the chair off his stomach. Then he smirked. "You okay, Papa?" He asked, helping his dad to his feet, amused. It was hard to hide how funny it was that his dad fell over so much, especially with that particular chair. He could fight off a good number of opponents without getting up, make his spins precise and calculated. Yet, the second he let loose and enjoyed himself, he fell over as much as a two year old running into a wall did.

One of the classmates sneaked over his desk, his partner insisting he come back, but the family up front was a bit preoccupied to notice.

"I'm fine. It's not really much different than when it happens at home," Stein said to his son, not really caring too much.

The person was a weapon, their arm transforming as they went after the younger Stein, a wild and scared look on his face. He screamed as he leapt forward, ready to strike and alerting the others.

"Eh?" Cross Stitch said, turning around.

It took less than a second, but the weapon that jumped down from his seat was being blocked by the two new weapons, two long blades coming out from each of their wrists, spread open like a set of scissors. Hunter's right blades blocked the weapon while his left was hooked at the guy's stomach. Archer's left blades clipped his other arm while her right grazed his throat, his neck bleeding a little. They were swearing bloody murder through their glares alone, half tempted to cut him up and teach him a lesson.

"Stay away from our meister!" They said, voices filled with rage.

Cross Stitch, on the other hand, just looked on as if someone had asked him about the weather. "Well, that didn't take long," he said, back to acting nonchalant before eyeing the weapon that tried to strike him. "Look, if it's all right with you, I'd rather not inherit all of my dad's dissecting habits, so just back off. Besides, I can't guarantee Hunter and Archer won't kill you if you try that again. They're not quick to forgive, and from the looks of things, they're using all of their self control to resist hurting you."

The weapon started sweating profusely at Cross Stitch's statements.

Cross Stitch sighed again, looking away. "Honestly, I don't get what's got you so intimidated that you'd attack while I was helping our teacher off the ground. Is it because of my dad? Are you afraid of him? If so," Cross Stitch said, violet eyes narrowing at his assailant, "what makes you think you have a prayer against me?"

More sweating occurred, the weapon now fearing for his well being.

The room was silent once again, several people frightened by Cross Stitch's statement. Others in the room held more contained reactions. This included several of the people the new meister was sitting with.

"Hmph," Black Star said more to himself, actually trying to not be loud for once. "Give the guy this much, he's not wrong. Attacking like that gets you killed," he said.

Tsubaki nodded, a serious look on her face.

"Black Star's right," Maka said before looking back down, now also serious. "He let his fear consume him. If Cross Stitch wasn't distracted, I don't think Hunter and Archer would have had to intervene," she added, her eyes narrowing.

The others nodded at her before returning to the scene before them. Maka did the same, her green eyes narrowing at the boy. She kept thinking about what his weapon partners told them about him prior to meeting him and comparing them to the meister before them. _Cross Stitch Stein...who are you, really?_

Cross Stitch sighed again, a bored look returning to his features before looking up at his father. "So, what do I do now? Do I just let him go?" He asked him.

Stein looked down, just as bored as his son was. "Yeah. He'll get detention or some other punishment. It's the first time he's done that, so violence is a bit unjustified. Besides, your weapons chose to stop him," he said, looking at Hunter and Archer. "By all technicality, the situation is under control. If they move on to hurt him, they'll be the ones in trouble," he explained.

"Oo, can't have that. I'm dueling Kid after school," he said to himself, walking towards the twins.

People had begun to whisper, not knowing a duel was already scheduled to happen. Intrigue and excitement returned to them for a brief moment, but it went away after what occurred next.

Cross Stitch had put his hands on his weapons's shoulders and said, "Come on, Mother Hens, let's get to our seats."

The weapon that struck was immediately forgotten, Hunter and Archer retracting their blades before grabbing Cross Stitch by the collar, glaring more fiercely than before. "WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL US?!"

"You know what I called you, otherwise you wouldn't have dropped the guy," Cross Stitch said casually.

The class was now staring in disbelief. All Cross Stitch needed now was a set of glasses to adjust, and he'd look like his dad in every sense. He then did something no one expected him to do: he smiled

"Come on, let's sit down! We'll be behind the others even more if we don't, and Maka's got enough to help us catch up on," he said, not really trying to get out of their grips, but he didn't sound bored. He was slightly agitated and he desperately wanted to get class started. However, he came off as more eager, and his smile represented it.

They didn't put him down at that, but the remark did make Stein's head perk up. _Well, look at that...I didn't think Maka would be so quick to let him in her social circle. He's not usually this engaging with new people, and she usually wouldn't tolerate his blunt attitude,_ he thought, smirking internally. Externally, though, he looked a bit annoyed.

"All right, you two, put him down. We've got a lot to cover today. Unless you prefer we study you three, instead?" He said, his eyes now visible to them.

Everyone in the class felt a shiver go up their spines, except for Cross Stitch, who looked at his father with a curious expression.

"Really? How would you do that?" He asked him, not at all concerned about anything aside from starting the lecture.

The instant he asked this was the instant Hunter and Archer raced up the steps, shoving him into the seat next to Kid and grabbing their pencils. The new meister looked at his weapons, noticing that they were the ones sweating now. His brow rose. _What's with them?_ He wondered before following suit, taking out a notebook and pen.

Stein took a moment to review everything from Friday. The three were diligent and attentive, the two weapons checking with their meister every so often. They didn't say anything to each other outright, but they passed on looks to each other, pointed at different notes, nodded or shook their heads, even made some hand gestures. It was like a sub-language that existed without words. To those who watched, it was odd. This included the three who sat near them. _They'd have to be close if they understand what each other means without talking,_ Liz thought, crossed between curious and weirded out.

Kid's eyes narrowed, his expression unreadable._ Even if he weren't Stein's son, he'll be tough to beat,_ he thought. _Cross Stitch is undoubtedly much more relaxed with those two, and they know a lot of each other's quirks,_ he added before looking forward.

"Okay, let's see if we can add to these lists," Stein said. "Cross Stitch?"

Said son looked up from his notebook, where his finger had been pointing to help the twins again. He then looked down at his father.

"Just because you're new doesn't mean you and your partners are exempt from questions. Can you give me another advantage that a meister like you would have against a single weapon meister?" He asked his son.

Cross Stitch sighed. "If I have to, I guess," he said, looking bored. "I'm surprised no one pointed out that multi-weapon meisters can handle more than one other soul wavelength at a time. Granted, it's just with their weapons, but they still have the ability to adjust their own wavelengths when another interacts with them. Makes it more difficult to disrupt their soul's wavelength," he said.

Whispers came again, heads turned to stare at him, save for Kid, who only nodded at the statement.

"I can't help but wonder, can this trait carry over to cursed weapons and their meisters?" He asked his father.

The scientist shook his head. "Thankfully no. Their souls have changed far too much to be able to do that. Madness has begun consuming them, so harnessing that would take precedent," he said.

The boy nodded, and class continued onward. The bell rang much sooner than Stein wanted it to, having only just begun on cursed weapons when it sounded.

"We'll pick this up next class. Be sure to do the assignment on multi-wavelength studies and we won't have problems tomorrow. Class dismissed," Stein said, bookmarking his textbook.

He then eyed the weapon from earlier in class. "And you, please stay behind. You still need a punishment for the commotion you caused earlier."

The others stood up, moving to leave the room. First ones out were Tsubaki, Black Star, Soul, Hunter and Archer. Maka walked out of her row, holding her books to her chest as she began following her friends down the steps. She had begun thinking about the lesson before a voice cut through her train of thought.

"Maka?"

Said girl looked back, noticing Cross Stitch there, one hand holding his bag over his shoulder, the other resting at his side. His expression was somewhere between his stoic demeanor and concern. The teen stepped closer to her, but not as close as others were accustomed to.

"Does me being the professor's son change the plans for free period?" He asked.

Her eyes widened a fraction. Of all the things she thought he'd say, that wasn't one of them. "No. I offered to help, and I want to," she said, feeling a tad concerned herself.

The reply seemed to make him relax a bit, a small breath of relief escaping him. Unbeknownst to either meister, though, they had a captive audience courtesy of their colleagues.

"What made you think I'd change my mind? I'm not prejudiced, Cross Stitch. You can't control your family," she said to him, a hand on her hip and a confused look on her face.

Hunter and Archer smiled at her, approving of the scythe meister.

Cross Stitch shrugged, looking away from her. "I'm just used to it, I guess," he said.

A surprised look came to Maka's face, somehow taking in everything she needed to know without hearing any detail. So, without a second thought, she moved to grab Cross Stitch's free hand with her own. The contact surprised him, making him take a tentative step back. He wasn't sure if he should jerk his hand away or not, the touch being unwelcome yet comforting at the same time. He wasn't sure how to feel about a new acquaintance taking such a liberty, either, but he was hesitant about saying anything, not wanting to offend her.

Maka just smiled at him. "Come on! We'll be late for next period if we don't hurry," she said, dragging him down.

Cross Stitch made a noise as she did this, rushing past their friends as they did so. Their friends smiled as they looked ahead at them before moving to catch up with them.

* * *

_**OKAY! Much shorter update than anticipated, but then again, I'm just kinda spit balling with this fic. How's it moving along? No one's OOC, are they? Also, I think I may make this a MakaxOC. I don't know why, but she's the only character I can imagine putting Cross Stitch with. Haven't decided yet if that'll be the case. I am a diehard SoulxMaka reader, so I'm a little conflicted on what to do.**_

_**Thanks for reading!**_  
_**~ K. Fang-sama**_


	6. Chapter 6

**_Okay. Let's keep going._**

* * *

Cross Stitch

**Chapter Six**

So far, the first day at the DWMA was rather eventful for the new trio. The news of Professor Stein's son's enrollment, not to mention his match with Death the Kid that was taking place after school, spread throughout the Academy like wildfire. By third period, everyone already knew who the new albino meister was. Several people went to strike him throughout the day, and with each attempt, Hunter and Archer got in the way. Cross Stitch was only interested in fighting one person that day, and refused to hit anybody. The closest he got was when he used his foot to block an incoming attack during a lecture.

"I'm not fighting you," he told all of his assailants, giving them a threatening look that was almost on par with his father's. People backed away from him at these moments.

That is, everyone except the new companions he met.

"Hey guys! Did you make it here okay?"

The new meister was brought out of his thoughts at hearing Maka Albarn's voice, just as kind as it had been that morning.

"You bet!" Hunter said, walking forward.

It was free period, just before lunch, and they had made their way to the library on their own. They didn't have the same class as Maka before free period, otherwise she would have led them to the library.

"Thanks for doing this, Maka," Archer said, bowing to her.

"It's no worry!" Maka said, smiling.

Cross Stitch looked away from the chatty group, feeling puzzled about this new acquaintance. She was...different than what he was used to. Then again, so were Hunter and Archer, but neither one acted like her. There was never a single person who was quick to get close to him, not his own age anyways. And if they did, he was too young to remember when it happened. He didn't like most people: didn't like their judgemental glances and how they complained that their lives were so hard; didn't like how quick they were to discard friends just because they didn't fall in line with how they saw things; or their lies and their reliance on others to make them feel less insecure.

The younger Stein looked at his hand, eyes narrowing. It was one of the first things he noticed about his new comrades: they didn't fall into that last pitfall. For all he knew, they might not even fall into the other ones, or at least, not to the same degree as others. They seemed sure of themselves, Maka most of all. As uncomfortable as he was with her holding his hand, she wouldn't let go until a few minutes after they got to their second class. She had started talking about the material and how they were implementing some of it into gym class. He remained as nonchalant as he could, but there was something about her. Something he couldn't fool or hide from...

Something that made him nervous.

"Are you okay, Cross Stitch?" Maka asked him, noticing her fellow meister zoning out.

Said teen's eyes widened for a second before looking at her, trying to force composure back onto his face. He then nodded at her, unable to find the words he wanted to say.

Hunter and Archer stared at them for a few moments before smirking to each other. They knew when Cross Stitch was thinking about something deeply; it was one of the first things they learned how to read. He was a closed off kid, after all: outside of his parents, he didn't like people getting physically close to him, especially in social situations. Being around new acquaintances was going to take adjusting, and their meister welcomed it. Maka's simple act of grabbing his hand was enough to get him running down his train of thought.

"Do new companions always do that?" He had asked them when Maka walked off. They only laughed before Archer told him it depended on the person. He hadn't stopped questioning it, but kept his thoughts to himself.

The scythe meister smiled at him. "Okay then. How about we get started? There's a lot to cover."

Cross Stitch nodded, following the ashen-blonde girl into the library alongside his weapons. There were a lot of people inside, several that noticed them. They didn't approach the group, but they did start muttering to whatever persons were near them. The albino felt his eye twitch. He hated gossip almost as much as he hated rumors. But they were to be expected. He was a freak in his old school, and he was the creepy professor's son in his new school. So, of course, that made him as much a creep as everyone believed his father to be.

He froze, eyes widening at feeling a hand on his shoulder. It was Maka again, a sympathetic look on her face.

"Don't let it get to you. It'll take time for them to look past your dad and see you for you. Take it from someone who knows," she said, her voice trailing off a bit.

Cross Stitch looked surprised for a second but recomposed himself, closing his eyes. He had forgotten she was Spirit Albarn's daughter. It wasn't hard to forget, honestly. She looked and acted different from her papa. And from what he gathered from Hunter and Archer, he wasn't even on good terms with her. But he was still her papa, and her papa was called "Death Scythe" for a damn good reason. Combine that with his other eccentricities, he couldn't imagine how people treated her when she first enrolled. So, when he opened his eyes to look at her, he graced her with a smile. "Thank you," he said.

She smiled back, giving him a nod. She was somewhat grateful that he understood without her having to explain anything. It wasn't easy to dig up and even harder to let it go when it was put out there.

Cross Stitch turned to the first empty table near them. "Let's crack open the books!" He said, still smiling.

The study session went slowly. Not just because the material was never touched by the trio before, but because all three of them processed things differently. Cross Stitch asked questions out of curiosity to see if he could broaden his understanding of the subjects. However, there were some Maka couldn't answer, which he took note of silently, letting it go almost immediately and letting her continue. Archer rarely spoke up, and was actually quiet and attentive. She asked questions too, but that was more to clarify things. And Hunter, well...

"How do you not get it?" Archer asked him, annoyed.

Hunter turned towards her. "Because I'm not a genius like you," he said before looking back at his notes. "I don't know what the big deal is. I thought the point of this was to make sure we all catch up. Would you prefer I didn't ask Maka any questions?" He asked her, getting tired of her attitude already. "Believe it or not, not everyone learns the same way you do."

Archer glared at her brother and was about to retort, but a smooth voice stopped her.

"Archer," Cross Stitch called, not looking up from his textbook. When he felt his weapon's attention on him, he spoke again. "This is a group study session. I'd much prefer he understand the basic fundamentals now before diving into more complicated subjects. It would slow us down further if he didn't." The girl glared at her meister, exhaling through her nose but saying nothing. "We'll have plenty of time to study on our own. Let's take the time to try and understand what we don't," he said, turning the page of his textbook.

The female weapon said nothing, simply letting out a huff before standing. "I'll grab the next volume we need," she said to Cross Stitch before walking off.

Hunter straightened his back before turning and glaring at his sister's back. "Oh fuck no. I ain't taking this." Hunter then got up and went after her, leaving his meister to sigh in frustration.

Maka had been watching the whole time, not sure how to respond. She usually didn't have a problem speaking her mind, but this time felt more difficult. She shook her head. _That's because they're new and they're good people. Why would I wanna offend them?_ She thought before looking at Cross Stitch. His book was set down on the table, one hand holding it while the other was propped up by his elbow, keeping his head up as he watched his weapons interact from a distance. He sighed again when he noticed the tension rise between them.

Maka looked at the weapons as they argued for a moment before turning back the albino. "Cross Stitch?"

Said teen perked up, looking back at his fellow meister. "Yeah Maka, what is it?" He asked her.

She was a little hesitant at first, but after a while, she couldn't help but ask. "Are they always like that? On a different page from one another, I mean?"

Cross Stitch's nonchalant expression was present once again, and it didn't falter when he nodded at Maka, looking back at the pair. The ashen-blonde joined him, eyes narrowing in concern.

"It's strange. I could have sworn they were the exact opposite when I met them," she said to herself.

"It's not so strange," Cross Stitch told her honestly. He could feel her stare at him, but he didn't meet her gaze. "Hunter and Archer act a lot alike only in certain instances. Either when they're in agreement, when they're competing against each other, or when they're fighting alongside each other. Outside of that, they mix as well as water and oil do." He looked back at Maka then, seeing her confused look. "For example, Archer is precise and quick. She can take in information quickly and create strategies. She's pretty headstrong, but she's more likely to jump the gun and take a risk without thinking it through because she's so self-assured."

Green eyes blinked at him as he lowered his head. "Hunter is also self-assured in himself, but he wouldn't take a risky move unless he had to. He questions his actual safety, and does his best to remain aware of others. This makes him a lot slower than us, and makes him less quick to act. But between the two of them, he's the one who'll notice something wrong first, whether it be in a fight or when engaging with loved ones. And he can better predict how things will turn out. His casual pace keeps him from being narrow-minded," he explained.

Maka stared at him, a little surprised. Cross Stitch sounded a lot like his father through all of that. He was so calm, but that could have been because he was used to them. The twins walked further away from them as she stared at him, and she asked, "If they're that different, how do they work in battle? It sounds like they would throw you off from what you told me."

Cross Stitch smirked, tilting his head back as his violet eyes moved to meet her green ones. "Oh, they do. That's part of the challenge. Gauging quick action and calm thinking is pretty difficult. However, those two are able to push most of it aside when in combat. They're concern is protecting each other, and me now. So, they save the squabbling for when things calm down." The new meister let out a chuckle at that one, eyes dripping in amusement. It would probably get old soon, but for now, the pair could only get him laughing.

Maka sweat dropped. _I hope they work on that,_ she thought, knowing from experience how that behavior can turn against any partnership. "So, why did they wanna come here, if you don't mind my asking?"

The albino turned to her, a blank look on his face. "I don't know, really. They just wanted to be my weapons," he said, moving the hand that was on his textbook to scratch his head. "Honestly, it was a relief when they asked. Their family has a pretty cozy living, and they enjoy their at-home business with them. They never expressed any desire or need to leave before, so I wasn't sure if they'd agree," he added, trying to hide his discomfort with the small talk. _Part of making friends,_ he told himself. Maka was still quite kind to him, after all. He didn't want to be rude by not answering a reasonable question. But he wished that his weapons could remain patient with one another so they could keep talking about Phasmology. That was easier.

The scythe meister nodded, a puzzled look on her face. "I see," she said. "And what about you? Why did you wanna become a meister?" She asked.

The younger Stein noticed that her phrasing of the question was slightly different. _How much did they tell them?_ He thought, keeping his face expressionless for a moment. He then smiled at her. "That's easy! I wanna be the best meister to ever graduate from this Academy. Better than my Papa."

He had surprised his companion with his answer, but she soon smiled and nodded at him again. "Cool! I'm gonna make Soul into a death scythe stronger than _my_ Papa!" She stated, pointing a thumb at herself.

Cross Stitch laughed a bit. "I believe you," he said, giving her a wry smirk. "Lord Death will probably want him as his personal weapon if you succeed. Would you be okay with that?" He asked her.

"Yeah, of course!" She said, her forming into a fist. "He deserves to be called 'Death Scythe.'"

She and Cross Stitch shared a small laugh together just as Hunter and Archer returned. They weren't happy with each other on their way over, but noticing their meister laughing with their new acquaintance made them smile.

"She's good for him," Hunter said as they stared at them.

"Oh yeah," Archer said, smirking as Maka started talking about hanging out with them more regularly. Cross Stitch was surprisingly open to the idea, most of his usual discomfort seemingly gone. "I've got high hopes for them," she openly said, putting a hand on her hip.

Hunter sighed, a sense of dread washing over him. "Don't go playing matchmaker, Bitch. They won't react well to it," he said, half knowing his words fell on deaf ears as his sister walked towards them again. He followed a few seconds after.

As they approached, Maka had begun talking about Blair and how she fit into their home life at the apartment.

"A magic cat with a human form? I'm surprised she's not in your faces most of the time," Cross Stitch said to her, leaning back in his chair. This was proving to be interesting.

Maka chuckled nervously. "No. Just in Soul's, mostly. She might try with you guys when you come to visit, so fair warning," she said, not sure whether or not she should explain how often the cat striped for them.

Cross Stitch chuckled. "I'm sure we'll be fine," he said before perking up. The pair turned their heads towards the twins, who were approaching in mostly silence. "I see you two are back on the same page. So you think we can get through this unit before the bell rings?" He asked them, a rhetoric air to his voice. He hadn't expected or wanted an answer, but he got one anyways.

"Yep!" Archer said as she sat down, a large smile on her face. Hunter followed, a slight cringe still evident on his features. "Sorry about that, Maka!" Archer said to her. "I know it must have been an awkward position to be put in. I really wasn't thinking when I reacted like that," she said to the scythe meister.

The girl smiled. "It's okay. I'm glad you and Hunter sorted it out," she said.

Hunter looked away a bit when Archer's grin grew. Cross Stitch took this in with a raised brow. Archer was beaming but Hunter was worried.

_Whatever raised Archer's spirits, it clearly wasn't a calm talk with Hunter about how they study,_ he concluded to himself before looking at Hunter. "Let's finish where we were then move on. We don't have that much time left," he told the weapon.

Hunter blanched for a second, knowing his meister caught something was up. He soon nodded, though, feeling grateful that Cross Stitch decided not to interrogate him about it.

"Alright. A sound soul dwells within a sound mind and body. I believe we were explaining the basic principles on how this strengthens weapon and meister bonds?" He asked Maka.

The girl nodded. "Yeah. I'll re-explain it from the beginning," she told them.

The three took out their notebooks, quietly listening to the scythe meister as she talked. However, both meisters failed to notice how Archer stared at them as a plot formed in her mind. And all the while, her brother tried to pretend he didn't see it.

* * *

_**OKAY! Chapter six. I took inspiration from my younger brother and sister with creating Hunter and Archer. There are some differences, but my little sister does learn things more easily than my little brother.** _

_**Anyways, thank you for reading!  
~ K. Fang-sama**_


	7. Chapter 7

**_Well, here's a moment I've been dying to get to. Sorry it took so long, there was a lot that I wanted to fit in. With that said, _****_I hope you all enjoy it._**

* * *

Cross Stitch

**Chapter Seven**

It was a little after three in the afternoon. The school day was over, and all the students and faculty were gathering to different spots so they could observe the event about to take place. The sons of Lord Death and Professor Stein were due to fight right outside the main entrance as soon as classes ended, and everyone had a piqued interest to see how things turned out. Even Lord Death himself.

"Hi! How are ya? Good to see ya!" The grim reaper said as the students gathered, one giant hand raised, Spirit standing beside him.

Stein had wheeled himself there, Kid and the others stopping to look up at him. "I'm surprised to see you, Lord Death," Stein said, having not expected the grim reaper to make an appearance. Watch the fight, perhaps, but not to leave his mirrors.

Lord Death leaned forward. "Sorry. I couldn't quite help myself," he said, raising a finger. "With what I saw in those three, I just had to watch this brawl in person. I'm certain your boy will be an interesting challenge for my Kiddo." Spirit didn't comment for a change, a smirk forming instead.

The younger grim reaper raised a brow, his shoulders tensing up. "Father, what do you mean by that?" He asked him.

The older grim reaper just laughed a bit, straightening his back and looking up. "That would be quite unfair, now wouldn't it? You're just going to have to find out on your own," he said, his jovial tone coming off as more genuine this time round. It made his son tense up further, but he relented to his father's observation. "Come to think of it," Lord Death said, looking around a bit before looking down at the group, "where are Cross Stitch and his weapons?"

Spirit looked at Stein then, a suspicious look on his face at Lord Death's observation. "Yeah. I'm shocked he isn't here yet. What's he up to?" He asked the scientist. Cross Stitch had similarities to his father when he was his age, but it was much more mellow by comparison. Spirit had questioned if it was just because he lived with Lucinda most of his life or because Stein had a helping hand in suppressing his son's madness. Either way, until he knew, he wasn't comfortable not knowing where the younger Stein was.

Black Star chuckled at Spirit's expression as the others looked around for the new students. "He's probably trying to build up the confidence to face Kid!" He said.

Tsubaki turned and attempted to scold him. "Black Star-"

"I mean, let's be honest! Kid's almost a big a deal as me. That new kid is probably shaking in his boots right now!" Black Star continued, laughing as he did so.

Soul looked at his friend. "Get real! Cross Stitch isn't afraid of you or anybody," he said, recalling several fights the new meister managed to evade.

"Yeah, Black Star!" Maka said, getting mad already. "He probably just got lost. It's his first day," she said.

Black Star turned to Maka. "All the better excuse for that pansy to hide!" He then started laughing.

"Ugh, knock it off. Who're you trying to convince?" Liz rhetorically asked, putting her hands on her hips as Kid passed his fellow meister an annoyed gaze. Patty just giggled at how ridiculous Black Star's face was in that instant.

The professor looked at Black Star, noticing his son and his weapons approaching from behind. The others had yet to realize it, so the scientist was curious to see how his son would handle his new acquaintance speaking ill of him. So, he kept his attention on the teenage assassin, his expression calm, and his tone mildly irritated as he said: "You sound pretty confident about that. My son doesn't scare easily, you know."

The new trio stopped, looking up at the display before them as Black Star laughed harder. "Exactly! That's why he's scared right now. There's no way he can handle Kid! I'd be surprised if he didn't piss his pants while facing him. Forget land a hit on him!" He said, laughing again.

Hunter and Archer felt annoyed on their meister's behalf, but the feeling lasted for only a second. They quickly realized Black Star had annoyed Cross Stitch a little too much, both flinching at the sight of a rolled, grey, stitch-patterned leather tool case. Cross Stitch opened it, revealing several sewing needles lying next to each other, each secured in the pockets of the case, as well as the strap sewn in to keep them in place. There were several small ones, most held in plastic boxes within the case, but as one looked, each needle progressively got larger in size and were stored individually.

Cross Stitch pulled out the largest one he had. The needle was a couple inches longer than his own hand. He flipped the piece of metal, caught it, then threw it; aiming for Black Star's ass. Said meister was still laughing when he felt the stab to his butt, but the second he did, he jumped up, hopping and running around in pain.

As the teen yelled, the party stared on, everyone but Patty and Stein cringing. The pistol and scientist laughed as Black Star flailed around, yelling about the pain he was in. Stein found it so amusing, he didn't even notice his son walk up to him.

"Another social experiment, Papa?" Cross Stitch asked, amused. They all looked towards them, noticing the younger Stein was smirking at his father. "Come now, didn't Mama tell you I wasn't a specimen to run tests on?" He teased, earning sweat drops from the onlookers as he crossed his arms.

His father laughed again. "What? I just wanted to see if you found a use for all those needles I gave you. Your mother said they were too big to be a proper sewing kit," he said, not even bothering to try and sound convincing.

Cross Stitch rolled his eyes. "Sure, Papa," he said before looking back at Black Star, a tinge of annoyance mixing with his smirk. His eyebrow twitched. "I suppose if you were to attempt a social experiment, you'd first see if I was willing to endure Black Star's ego to find what people like about him," he said, taking a step forward. The scientist laughed again.

Cross Stitch then went into his bag, opening a packet and unfolding a sanitation napkin. After that, he quickly pulled his sewing needle out of Black Star's ass. The assassin flopped over and landed on his face while the younger Stein went about cleaning the large instrument. He then placed the napkin into a plastic bag, put the sewing needle into its case, folded it up, and put them into his bag. He went on to bring out one more item before closing his pack, getting up, and approaching the party again, facing Kid.

"Here," he said, holding out a black comb with white bristles. Kid looked down, having almost forgotten about the item he lent the new meister earlier that morning. "Between classes and getting lost a few times, I almost forgot to clean this. Had to stop in the nearest restroom once classes were over. That's what was taking me," he explained.

Gold eyes met violet, staring for a moment before their owner gave him a nod. Kid took his comb and looked it over. If Kid had to go by the state of the object, Cross Stitch's idea of cleaning was rather meticulous. He could faintly smell soap on the bristles, and to be honest, the grim reaper could barely tell the albino meister had used it.

_Not even a strand of hair,_ he thought, impressed before looking back at his new companion. "Thank you. It's almost as if I cleaned it," he said to him, smiling.

The albino shoved his hands in his pockets. "Mama always said you clean something before you return it. That's just good manners," he said, the faintest smile on his face as he shrugged lightly.

Kid nodded approvingly, briefly wondering who his mother was again. The thought had come up more than once that day, but it wasn't something he was willing to ask just yet.

Black Star finally got up, glaring daggers at the new meister. "Hey! What's the big idea?!" He yelled.

Cross Stitch glared at him. "Serves you right for talking shit behind people's backs. What kind of weakling does that, anyways?" He said, annoyed once again. The comment got to Black Star all too well, charging at Cross Stitch, intent on kicking his ass.

The new meister looked at his weapons. "Don't try to stop him," he ordered. The two nodded, getting out of the way. Once the assassin was close enough to where he couldn't dodge, the albino meister stepped aside and tripped the blue-head. Said meister landed with thud and skidded back to his weapon's side.

The younger Stein groaned. "Kid's my first opponent, remember? Not you," he stated, glaring at the assassin once more. The guy's lack of self-restraint was something to test his patience. _Truly, how do any of them get along with him?_ He thought, his gaze unwavering.

Black Star returned the glare, but he didn't move to strike him again. _Damn bastard! I'll get you for this!_ He thought before turning his gaze to Kid. "Hey, Kid!" He called. The grim reaper looked at his comrade, his face calm and a brow raised. "Kick his ass!" He said, getting up and standing by Tsubaki.

Death the Kid sighed, containing his frustration. _Knowing Black Star, it would be pointless to tell him to be nice to Cross Stitch. And from what I can see, Cross Stitch isn't keen on giving him a chance to be his friend any time soon,_ he thought before facing the Professor's son. "Let's get this started, shall we?" He offered the albino meister, putting his comb away.

Cross Stitch turned back to him, a smile returning to his face. "Sure! May the best fighter win," he said, holding out his hand to shake Kid's. The son of Death took it, sharing a determined stare with the new meister, both ignoring Black Star's grumbling. Their weapons exchanged glances as well, excited looks on their faces.

Each trio went out in the front courtyard. By now, everyone had gathered to watch, and everyone was completely silent. "I take it the rule is that we can fight however we wish until one can't fight anymore? Careful not to kill the other, of course," Cross Stitch said to Kid when they were in position. They were now twenty feet apart from each other, their weapons standing behind them.

Kid smirked at him. "Naturally. It wouldn't be much of a duel if we couldn't." Kid then looked back at his partners. "Liz, Patty! Weapon form, now," he ordered.

"Right~" Patty sang as Liz smirked. Their bodies glowed bright pink, before they went up in a trail of light, taking their pistol forms right in front of Kid, who grabbed them. The grim reaper stood their, weapons pointed at the trio, waiting for Cross Stitch to arm himself.

The crowd was waiting in suspense, a sense of unease coming along with it. Cross Stitch however, simply looked at the display before him and started laughing. "How interesting," he said after a moment.

Kid's eyes narrowed, not sure how to take in the new meister's relaxed attitude towards him and his weapons. He couldn't read him. Was he just amused, or was he overconfident? Or was it something else?

The albino didn't notice any of this. He instead looked back at his partners through the corner of his eye. "What was that old saying?" He asked them, raising a finger to touch his forehead as he did so, his head raised. He then turned his body more to them, a wry smirk forming on his face before he asked: " 'Who brings a knife to a gun fight?' "

Kid tensed at the comment, remembering the blades that came out of the twins' wrists earlier that day.

The Madison siblings only chuckled at their meister. "Get real, Cross Stitch!" Hunter said, folding his arms behind his head.

Archer put her hands on her hips. "Yeah," she said before leaning forward. "You clearly got it backwards!" Kid's gaze hardened.

Cross Stitch laughed again. "My mistake," he said, facing Kid again. "Would you be so kind?"

"You got it!" They said, bodies glowing blue before springing in the air and coming down for their meister. Cross Stitch spun in his place, catching them as he did so. When he faced Kid again, he twirled the twins in his hands before quickly pointing them down at his sides, the light fading from their form.

Everyone stared at the new weapons. They were twin katanas, the flat side of their blades was black while the sharp end was pure white. Their guards were silver and matched the design on the twins' armbands: four bowmen arrows forming a square. Their handles were neon blue, but not much else could be seen as they were held by their meister.

Said meister then looked up at his opponent, a relaxed, pleased grin on his face, his eyes half open and mirroring their owner's smile. Then, before Kid could blink, he vanished.

Gold eyes widened before looking to Kid's left, the sound of a light footstep making his head jerk. He barely stopped the blade being swung up at him, faltering slightly in his step. He had even less time to move away as Cross Stitch brought the other down on him. He managed to get some distance between him and the other meister, dodging strokes with great precision before leaping into the air and firing his guns.

Cross Stitch stopped himself from advancing, but still moving as he dodged Kid's bullets. His eyes never left the grim reaper, still relaxed but looking a bit more focused now. _So, he's comfortable with short and long range fighting,_ he thought, his smirk growing. _This will prove to be difficult._

Off to the side, the group observed the battle, all watching with anticipation. "Man, he's good," Soul said, eyes a little wide. He knew from experience that Kid wasn't an easy target. Despite being held back by the gunfire, Cross Stitch had yet to take a single blow. The fact he got the jump on Kid at the beginning of the fight was even more impressive.

"Yes," Lord Death said, "Cross Stitch's fighting abilities are rather high for his age. He may lack the experience, but his speed alone is already that of a two star meister, and he can easily adapt his movements to an opponent's," he explained, watching the fight carry on for a moment before speaking again. The new meister still wasn't much closer to his son. "However, up against Kid, and at a long distance, that might not make much of a difference," he said after a few minutes.

Spirit looked up at the grim reaper, a knowing look in his eyes. _From what I saw him do in his evaluation, I doubt that,_ he thought.

Black Star scoffed at the comment, but the others looked on. "Oh wow," Tsubaki said. "If that's just him alone, I wonder what he's like with his weapons."

"Yeah," Soul said before turning to his meister. "Say, Maka, do you think you can read their souls?" He asked her. She nodded, taking a moment to concentrate.

Stein observed her with the other two adults, wondering what she would pick up about his son. After seeing them exit his class that morning, he was quite curious how Cross Stitch would feel learning she could use Soul Perception as well.

Maka opened her eyes, looking at Cross Stitch's moving form. She saw three souls. Two of them were orange souls, one scruffy looking while the other had a ponytail, and both of them were smirking. The third soul was light blue, a curious look on its face, judging by its raised brow. "The bond between them is strong and stable," Maka began, narrowing her eyes, "Hunter and Archer seem to have a fierce dedication towards Cross Stitch, and he has a lot of gratitude towards them. It's a little surprising, honestly," she said.

"What do you mean by that?" Black Star asked, suddenly curious. He didn't see why Hunter and Archer would feel so strongly towards their meister, but even he couldn't help but perk up at Maka's comment.

The scythe meister frowned. "It's just...Hunter and Archer have confident and attentive souls. But Cross Stitch's soul is just odd. It's guarded and blunt at the same time. However, it's largely...hopeful? No, optimistic," she explained, not sure what to make of her fellow meister. The others followed, staring at the duel before staring at their smirking teacher before he took a drag of his cigarette. "Professor, is that right?" Maka asked him, confused.

Stein blew out a puff a smoke, a smile forming on his face. "It is," he said, turning at the ashen-blonde. "Cross Stitch may not seem like it, but he tries to look at things favorably. Some situations more than others, but for the most part, he refuses to lose faith so easily," he explained before taking another drag of his cigarette and puffing out more smoke. "Hunter and Archer have always latched on to that part of him, and they value his honesty with them. The bond works for Cross Stitch because of the twins' supportive nature. It only makes sense that he'd be grateful towards them." He said looking back at the fight.

The others looked on, Maka watching the albino meister carefully. Her eyes then softened, recalling what he had asked her once first period was over. _"Does me being the professor's son change the plans for free period?"_

Her gaze hardened, wondering how often people had treated him like shit, and bring him to the point he'd lose faith in forming bonds with others. The amount of time it took for him to relax while they were talking in the library wasn't something that came from a shy soul.

She felt her hand become a fist. _I won't let your down, Cross Stitch,_ she thought.

Back in the fight, Kid continued to fire, Cross Stitch never stopping. The younger Stein was trying to get closer to the grim reaper without being hit, which was proving to be quite the difficult sport. He leapt, turned, dashed, swayed, and flipped. All to dodge his opponent's bullets.

Kid's eyes narrowed before taking a tentative leap back and continuing his onslaught. _He's moving less like a martial artist and more like a dancer. If that's the case, him getting too close would prove to be a disadvantage for me,_ he thought, concentrating his fire more. From watching the professor fight, he could tell that Cross Stitch's style was different from his father's. He could also tell from the younger Stein's physique that said father still had a hand in his training. _Swift strength is likely the focus of his technique,_ he concluded, deciding to keep moving every so often to keep the other meister off of him.

A gap formed in his line of fire, and Cross Stitch took the opening. Kid turned and fired, the other meister getting within twenty feet of him just as he pulled the trigger.

"Cross Stitch, watch your feet!" Hunter yelled.

His meister halted, barely dodging Kid's next attack before moving in the opposite direction. He was stopped, another bullet barely missing his feet, while the next one he had to tuck and roll to avoid.

"Fucking hell! This is getting old!" Archer yelled, getting annoyed before shooting her narrowed eyes in Cross Stitch's direction. "Cross Stitch, why aren't you using us to block him?!" She yelled, frustrated.

Cross Stitch rolled to his left, leaping back into the air and landing before he answered his weapon. "I don't have enough data yet," he told her calmly, dodging the next few bullets where he stood, noticing Kid was aiming for his vitals now. "His bullets are made by his own compressed wavelength. So, even if I collect everything I need, there's no guarantee that they won't mess with our synchronization. With him aiming at my feet as I move, it makes timing an even greater issue," he said, pivoting off of each foot as he stepped and ducked out of the way of each attack.

Hunter looked back at him. "What do you see in them?" He asked, hoping some insight might allow him to help his meister.

The albino didn't answer immediately, once again leaping back at a few bullets aimed at his feet. He looked back then, concentrating on Kid and allowing his gaze to darken around him for a moment. In place of the grim reaper, he saw two pink souls in hats and one red soul with three white stripes in it.

"I see two weapons with laid back attitudes, able to calm down their meister. His soul is uptight, but I can't tell what it stems from," he said.

Archer's brow rose, still a little annoyed but a bit more focused on the task at hand. "Is it really important to understand that?"

"Big time," Cross Stitch said, leaning away from another blast. "Whatever it is, its the root of his soul. It drives him and gives him purpose," he explained, eyes narrowing on the grim reaper. _This sensation is new, that I know. I've never sensed this in anyone's soul before. Usually that just makes me curious, but now it's frustrating. I can't think of what move to make next,_ he thought, trying to pick a scenario. Proceeding forward was meeting limited success, and he knew he wouldn't do much damage at a distance. Even with what he could do long range, Kid would simply dodge him.

His female weapon groaned. "Well, dodging isn't gonna do anything except wear us down," she said, getting exasperated with her meister's inaction. "We need to do something different."

Her brother nodded. "I agree. We don't have a chance like this. We could use-"

"That won't hit him. And we don't have enough time," Cross Stitch argued, getting annoyed as he dodged more bullets. Kid was upping the anti now, noticing that he wouldn't make another move.

Hunter sighed. "Some fighting genius you are, ya crazy idiot," he said to him, crossing his arms. "We don't need to hit him. We need an opening. If we attack, we'll get it. If something's coming at him, he's not gonna stay in the same spot. As for timing, I'm sure you can come up with something to give us a few seconds," Hunter said, eventually smirking at Cross Stitch.

Archer chuckled. "I could go for that. I've been dying to use that technique!" She said, excitement taking over her before she looked back at the albino. "I don't care how you make it happen. Whatever crazy plan you got, it'll work, I'm sure!" She said, giving him a thumbs up.

Cross Stitch sighed, stepping back again before closing his eyes. _Hunter's probably right. __I'm overthinking it._ _I'm focusing too much on other problems that don't require immediate attention when I should be focusing on how to stop his bullets. There aren't many options, seeing as how I can't get close to him like this,_ he thought before looking up. More bullets came but he didn't bother to move. Instead, he moved so that way he'd take the hits more fully._ It's a risk, but there's only one thing we can do here to give us time,_ he added, his shoulders relaxing and a nonchalant expression returning to his face. "Okay, you two. Let's make it happen," he said right before the bullets hit him square in the chest.

Two hits sounded, smoke coming from where Cross Stitch was standing. Kid's head perked up as more bullets landed around the new meister. The crowd whispered and cheered, staring in awe at the first hit finally being made. "Yeah!" Patty cheered, raising a fist in the air.

"All right! We finally got him!" Liz said, smiling. Kid stared at the smoke. He wasn't relieved, nor was he satisfied. He was puzzled and nervous, and it made him stay tense, not lowering his weapons. "What's wrong, Kid?" The elder sister asked him, noticing Kid's look.

Kid simply kept staring. "Something...something is off," he said, not sure how else to describe it.

Off to the side, Spirit Albarn took a tentative step forward, looking confused. "What the hell?" He said to himself. "He was dodging just fine but then he just took the hits," he said before turning to his old partner. "What's your kid thinking, Stein?"

Said man just smirked, relaxing his head on his folded arms, his resting into the back of his chair. "He's just buying himself a few seconds. It's fine " he said, looking onward. Spirit looked at his former partner as if he had three heads.

The smoke began to clear, and everyone could see Cross Stitch's silhouette slowly get up. The hit had made him fall back and turn, landing on his chest, clenching his weapons tightly. Once he pushed himself off his forearms to his hands, he spoke.

"Well...that hurt," he said, getting off of one of his knees and placing his foot on the ground. "Your bullets have an impact on Soul Synchronization. They can screw up someone real bad," he said.

The remark made Kid's eyes narrow, bracing himself again to attack as Cross Stitch rose to his feet. "Good thing I'm my papa's son. Makes it a little easier to get my soul waves back in line with my weapons'."

Cross Stitch turned around then, the smoke finally clearing and Kid's eyes widening at the sight of his weapons. The twin katanas were now glowing bright green, circular pockets forming all around the blades. They were pointed down, and their meister looked rather annoyed.

Speaking of, Cross Stitch looked more than a bit roughed up, his jacket taking the worst from the attack. It was black in several places, and the seams to his left sleeve were coming undone.

"I don't know what kind of strategy you have," he then said, making Kid brace himself, "but I refuse to play Chicken with you any longer." His blades glowed brighter as he said that. The younger Stein then smirked. "Let's see how you like it."

He took the sword in his right hand and made a diagonal slash. Several pockets came off the blade, growing longer with pointed tips within a second's time. "Bowman's Range," Cross Stitch said before they fired straight at Kid.

The grim reaper's eyes widened, moving as quickly as he could. The sudden barrage was not what he had anticipated. His eyes narrowed. _I have to be imagining this,_ he thought. _These can't be what I think they are._ He leapt up then, the next few barely missing him. Looking down from the air though, his eyes widened again. His opponent wasn't where he last saw him.

"Kid!" His weapons called, making him turn again. Just in time to see Cross Stitch's next attack fly straight towards him.

_How?_ He thought right before the first blast hit him, quickly followed by many others.

Kid crashed into the ground, dusting rising all around him. Cross Stitch landed a few feet away, skidding back then turning on the ball of his right foot before putting his left one down to balance himself.

"All right!" Hunter cheered.

"Yeah, that's the shit I'm talking about!" Archer said, more than satisfied with the current state of their opponents.

"Don't get comfy, you two," Cross Stitch said, looking in the direction of the dust cloud. "We're still versing a grim reaper. I doubt we'll beat him at any point soon."

Said grim reaper staggered back to his feet, panting hard as he looked at Cross Stitch, eyes narrowed and body tense, ready to move when needed.

_He let himself get hit just so he could surprise me. It was reckless but calculated. I'll need to keep a better eye on him,_ he thought, his gaze hardening. "How?" He said aloud. The albino blinked, raising a brow at Kid. "How could you fire arrows from your weapons? They're swords. That's not possible," he explained, unable to keep the question to himself.

The younger Stein looked surprised for a moment, but it was soon replaced by a curious smirk, a smirk Kid had seen only on the Professor's face before. "Oh? They look like actual arrows?" Kid's eyes widened a fraction as Cross Stitch let out a small chuckle, but still held his glare. "I thought they'd be a little different because Hunter and Archer were swords. That's very interesting," he said casually, closing his eyes, looking pleased.

Kid lifted Liz and Patty again, his hands squeezing tightly on them, threatening to pull the triggers again. "You didn't answer my question," he said, getting impatient. He perked up when he heard the swords chuckling alongside their meister.

"Good observation," Hunter said, a smirk on his face as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, very astute of you," Archer said, teasingly. "Why do you think our family crest is just four arrows making a square, Kid?"

Again, the grim reaper was surprised. "Family crest?" Liz questioned. "That symbol on your armbands? What about it?"

"It's their heritage," Cross Stitch said then, his pleased smile ever present as the other trio turned their glances to him. He opened his eyes, the exact same look in them as at the beginning of the fight. "The Madison family has a long weapon heritage of being regular old bows, capable of firing arrows from their meister's compressed wavelength. Alongside that, they have five techniques they can perform without having to fully resonate with their meisters. Bowman's Range just so happens to be one of them," he explained, raising his weapons and getting into a position: one blade turned to be guarding his front while the other guarded his back. The formation was circular in form, one turn of the heel and Cross Stitch could slice a person twice over. Then he disappeared again, Kid finding him below him this time, attacking with a wild grin on his face.

One of the blades nicked him as he dodged, but he could block the other one. Cross Stitch swung at his feet, making Kid do a side leap.

"He's trying to slow my movements!" He said aloud.

"Remind you of something?" Cross Stitch said before moving again.

Kid prepared to fire, but Cross Stitch struck his guns out of the way right as he fired them. He kneed the reaper to the stomach before slashing him across his chest. The hit sent him back, his weapons calling his name before his back hit the ground. Cross Stitch relaxed then, pointing his weapons to the ground again before charging another Bowman's Range.

"I admit," he said, knowing the reaper was still conscious, "I was a bit surprised when I learned this. They inherited the form of their mother's bloodline, yet they can perform their father's attacks. It was quite something, even if it took us some time to figure out how to begin wielding them. What with them being swords and everything." Kid had started to get back up as Cross Stitch spoke. "So far, we've managed to form two of them, and we're working on the third right now," he said before looking back at his opponent. "Let's see if you can make me use the second one!"

Kid leapt back as another swing came, another onslaught of arrows following. Cross Stitch went after him, one blade still glowing and ready to fire. More bullets were fired, once again blocking the albino meister from getting too close to his opponent. "Just get me an angle, Cross Stitch," Archer told him.

"Right," he said, eyes focusing before darting off to his right. He stopped at Kid's nine o'clock, swinging Archer and releasing his arrows. The grim reaper first tried blocking with his bullets, succeeding in taking out most of the attack before the remaining blasts could hit him. He quickly relocated Cross Stitch, already beginning to ready another strike. He fired at him on sight, the younger Stein halting before dodging again, the light around his blades wavering.

_So, he has to charge the attack before he can strike me. That's good. It buys me some time,_ Kid thought before taking a different angle, trying to limit Cross Stitch's movements again before narrowing his eyes. _Even still, this won't last me for long. I know he has at least one more technique to fall back on if he has to. It's risky, but the best way to make sure he can't ready another attack,_ he thought before stopping attack, leaping into the air._ Is to fight him up close._

Kid flipped, aiming a kick at Cross Stitch's head. He blocked it with his wrist, a bit startled by the reaper's sudden change in tactic. He got Kid off of him, finding more bullets aimed at him within seconds. Cross Stitch rolled forward, glaring at the reaper.

_What's he up to?_ He wondered. Death the Kid was skilled in close and long range combat, that he knew. Even with that though, his advantage was always the distance between them, Bowman's Range or not. It wouldn't be too hard for him to counter Cross Stitch before it could form.

Cross Stitch flipped back, missing another batch of bullets and continuing to flip a few feet away. Kid had leapt up by this point, Cross Stitch catching sight of him when he was right above him. He avoided most of Kid's next attack, but his left sleeve finally came undone at the seams, allowing one bullet to graze him, and another to hit his upper arm.

"Cross Stitch!" His weapons yelled as he skidded back, breathing heavily and bringing his right hand to the wound, still holding Hunter.

"That looks bad," the male katana said, looking concerned. "Will you be all right?" He asked his meister.

The albino nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. The bullets have more of a burning feel when they make direct contact with the skin. I wasn't prepared for it," he said to him, noticing the grim reaper coming back towards him. "Get ready, you two!" He ordered, now serious.

"Right!"

Off to the side again, everyone watched with anticipation. Heads turned back and forth, watching as the meisters moved and tried to fight each other. Now that Kid was choosing to fight Cross Stitch up close, the younger Stein was finding himself on the defense even more, despite his ability to actually slash at the reaper now. Neither one could hit the other with their weapons, but their bodies did more than enough to compensate for it. Their movements were quick and elegant, but still strong and fierce.

"It's like they're dancing," Maka said to herself, finding her breath taken away at the scene before her. It may have been a battle, but with Kid fighting someone who could give him a challenge, she could see the true amount of skill between the two meisters.

"Yes," Stein said, his cigarette hanging from his lips. "His mother would be proud. I don't think she knows how much she's influenced how he fights," he added before taking another drag.

The students looked at him. "Come to think of it, who is his mother?" Soul asked, looking a little wide eyed. It kind of bugged everyone, but they weren't going to ask Cross Stitch himself, having found out how sensitive it was just talking about his grandparents. They weren't sure at that point if the younger Stein would be comfortable talking about her, forget answer the actual question. "Is she that good of a fighter?" Soul added.

Stein's signature smirk came into view, snickering a bit. Spirit had to hold back his chuckles, and Lord Death just outright laughed. "As a matter of fact," the grim reaper said, "She's considered to be the deadliest and most beautiful sword to ever graduate from the academy."

Maka gasped, looking up with wide eyes. "Not the Dancing Death Scythe," she said.

"The very same," Lord Death said, raising a gloved finger.

"The Dancing Death Scythe?" Black Star asked her, having not heard of her.

The ashen-blonde nodded at him. "Lucinda Heartgrave. She's the strongest of the female Death Scythes. She's a sword that travels the world. Her blade is said to bring light to all she protects and slice apart all evil until their darkness is non-existent," she explained before looking back at the adults with them. "How do you know her, Professor?" She asked the scientist.

Stein just chuckled, taking in a long drag before Spirit spoke for him, looking down at his daughter. "Well, you know that Stein and I used to be partners. I left and became your mother's partner. So, Stein had to get a new weapon," he said, looking back at his old meister. "How he convinced someone as warm and kind as Lucinda, I don't know."

The professor rolled his eyes. "I didn't have to. She asked me to be her partner over at least seven other guys. She surprised me, actually," he said, looking up at the memory.

Tsubaki leaned towards her teacher. "It's because you thought she'd be afraid of you, right Professor?"

"Oh, no! Lucinda's never been afraid of me a day in her life," he said, finishing his cigarette. "She tested different meisters by dancing with them. She outright said I sucked at it after I tried to," he said, reaching for his pack again.

The students all sweat dropped before anyone said anything else. "So, this is how his mom fights," Soul said, looking back at the fight.

Stein smirked to himself as he lit his next cigarette. "More or less. I've trained him whenever I could, of course," he said before taking the first drag of the fresh cancer stick.

A blade met a gun again, the barrel facing the swordsman. Cross Stitch's eyes widened, quickly turning to move Kid's pistol pointing up when it fired, only to have the other fire another bullet at his bare left arm. The shock made the albino lose his footing for a second, allowing Kid to shoot him in the stomach and sending him back.

"Are you okay, Cross Stitch?" Archer asked him, starting to get worried. She was having trouble reading his wavelength, and he was shaking as he staggered to get up.

Cross Stitch's eyebrow twitched. "He's making sure we can't do anything but basic attacks," he said, planting Hunter into the ground and using him for balance as he stood up.

Said sword groaned. "He's not gonna leave us room for Bowman's Range again, we're lucky that worked once. And the other one takes longer to get ready," Hunter said before looking back at his meister. "We need some distance at the rate we're going," he said.

"Yeah, because that'll work so well," the female sword said. "All this back and forth? We're better off just diving straight through and forcing our way into an opening," she said.

Hunter felt a vein pop in his head. "Are you trying to kill our meister? That would never work!"

"Oh yeah?!" Archer yelled.

The two began to banter as Cross Stitch got to his feet, Kid watching them carefully. His opponent didn't look bothered by his weapons, though that may have been because of the blow he delivered. However, he couldn't help but think he noticed a smirk on the albino's face.

_I should probably strike now. I don't think I'll get this chance again,_ he thought, preparing for one final shot. A laugh interrupted him. It was the younger Stein, and he was having a difficult time containing himself as he cackled on.

"Listen to yourselves!" He said, grinning wickedly. "Those are both terrible ideas. Terrible ideas with minimal success at best," he said, looking up at Kid, a mad smirk on his face. "Both of those suck. If terrible attack strategies are all I'm left with, I'm gonna use the one that does the most damage," he said then, making his two weapons perk up, eyes wide and a nervous look on their faces.

Cross Stitch rushed forward, almost too quick for Kid to dodge. The reaper flipped and blocked the albino multiple times, but the swift movements weren't the same as before. They were quick, but they lacked the strength held in the previous swings. However, they were coming in faster now, Cross Stitch adjusting to Kid's movements much quicker because of it. If he jumped, Cross Stitch kicked. If he flipped back, Cross Stitch would elbow him in the face. The new meister made no attempt to dodge any of Kid's bullets, and when he was hit, he acted like he didn't even notice it.

The pair entered a deadlock, one not taking their eyes off of the other. Kid struggled to get an angle he could fire with, and Cross Stitch couldn't break past his defense. They pushed back and tried again a few times, only to find themselves in the same locked position. After five times of this, Cross Stitch attempted something else, getting into the gridlock once more before moving his swords with his body, trying to get Kid to release his pistols.

_Shit!_ Kid thought, noticing he almost lost his grip on Patty. He recovered, but he was too close to Cross Stitch to stop him from trying again. He glared at the younger Stein. _Two can play this game,_ he thought before breaking free before pistol-whipping the albino. The first time using Patty's barrel to strike across his face, the second time using the butt of Liz's handle to strike him on the back of the head. Cross Stitch stumbled, but came back for another strike. Kid took the opening, guarding with his pistols, turning them his hands to loosen Cross Stitch's grip on his swords before raising his weapons up, the katanas flying in the air. He moved closer to the younger Stein then, the other unable to blink before one of the guns was up against his stomach. "It's over," Kid said, pulling the trigger.

The gun sounded, startling the twin swords. They called for their meister, but he slumped forward, breathing heavily before coughing up blood. Kid watched him closely. He felt Cross Stitch slipping off of him a bit, but he needed to be sure he won. He had been fooled once before, he wasn't going to take it again. The new meister stopped at one point, still not moving, but a smirk forming.

"Heh, thank you," he said, grabbing the wrist that held the gun at his stomach.

Kid's eyes widened. He went to fire again, but Cross Stitch jerked his hand away, leaving him with only graze. Kid then found his arm being twisted, getting a jab to his shoulder, and when he turned around, he barely saw Cross Stitch's right palm as it jabbed his stomach, a yellow light flashing from it. "Soul Force," he heard before receiving a shock through his body, his eyes wide from the pain of the other's soul wavelength before he was sent flying backwards as Cross Stitch extended his arm.

The right hand didn't move for a few seconds after a Kid hit the ground, giving people full view of the damage the attack had done to it. The albino's arm was steaming from the newly-formed burns on his hand and wrist. The flaky skin was dark pink to red in most areas, charred black in others. There was still electricity coming from his palm, even as he relaxed and straightened his posture.

"Oh my," Stein said, adjusting his glasses, a small smirk on his face. "Looks like I need to adjust my first lesson with him. I'm surprised he could maintain what little control he could," he said as he watched his son carry on.

"I agree!" Lord Death said, cocking to the side a bit. "Cross Stitch's soul is quite large for his age, but his soul wavelength is barely stable on its own. I can't imagine what resonance will be like for him," he said. He gained surprised looks from everyone else, most worrying slightly before turning forward.

"Can he even still use that hand?" Soul couldn't help but ask, noticing the albino meister's fingers twitch every so often.

Maka's eyes narrowed and she frowned. "Yeah, that doesn't look good," he said.

Stein looked back up. "Potentially, he can, but it will likely cause severe pain if he does much with it. The fight will have to end soon if he wants to beat Kid."

Cross Stitch was about to move before letting out a short but severe coughing fit, covering his mouth with his left hand. He looked at his palm, gazing at the blood on it with uncaring eyes. After a moment, he turned around, wiping his hand on his ruined jacket as he approached his weapons, who were now sticking in the ground.

"YOU CRAZY IDIOT!" The twins yelled at him as he got closer, shaking his right hand in an attempt to stop the shocking so he could grab his swords.

"What kind of plan was that, Cross Stitch?! You ruined your hand!" Archer yelled, glaring daggers at him.

"Seriously! That was your most effective plan?!" Hunter yelled as their meister picked them up, still looking bored.

"Oh, I never said it was an effective idea. Just that it would cause the most damage...and it did," Cross Stitch said, grimacing a bit before turning towards Kid. His right hand hurt, more than he was willing to show, but he knew his weapons knew how it felt to him. Regardless, he carried on as if it were nothing but a scratch, keeping his focus on his opponent. The grim reaper's stamina had yet to give out, but he was struggling to his feet. As slim as his chances were, there was a small chance that would favor him beating Death's son. It was still 10% at best, but he refused to give in to the odds.

"Besides, I outright said it was a terrible idea. It just happened to pan out because Kid fell for my bait. He wasn't easy to goad into that position," he added, looking on in disinterest. His weapons growled, informing the meister that he hadn't said enough to get them to drop it.

He sighed. "Personally, I don't see what you two are so mad about. The other ideas would have led me to get hurt too," he said to them, now looking past Kid, forgetting that they were still fighting.

The two weapons felt a vein pop in their foreheads. "Are you fucking serious?!" They shouted at him.

Cross Stitch turned his blades up, lifting them so he could look at them. "Have you known me to not be serious? You know I hate liars."

"Your hand was paralyzed for two days the last time you tried that, remember?!" Hunter screamed.

"Yeah! You outright said that your Soul Force wasn't battle ready and that you shouldn't use it! Not until you showed Uncle Stein!" Archer added, still raging.

Their meister raised a brow. "I did?" He asked, receiving two loud yeses as a response. "Oh..." He said before shrugging. "Oops," he then said, preparing to move on with the fight. His weapons stopped him, still seething as they continued grilling him on what he did.

Kid was starting to get back up, but made no move to return to his feet, staring at Cross Stitch. Aside from the left sleeve of his jacket being completely torn from its seams, the rest of the article was tethered, riddled with holes from where Kid had hit him previously. Furthermore, the strike from his Soul Force charred the ends of Cross Stitch's right sleeve. The article of clothing was still recognizable for what it was, but only barely. And Kid couldn't stop staring at it.

"Hey, Kid, what's wrong?" Patty asked in an innocent voice, noticing her meister's eye twitching.

The grim reaper just sat there, staring at his opponent. "It's Cross Stitch," he said, feeling his anger bubble up.

Patty and Liz's eyes narrowed, both frowning. "I know!" Liz said, feeling the same anger. "That was so egotistical. How arrogant could this guy be, attacking like that," she said, disgusted with the new meister. This was twice now that he took bullets just to pull a fast one on Kid. As far as she was concerned, he was too overconfident for his own good.

"It's not that!" Kid said, getting a blank stare from his weapons. "His jacket...it's completely asymmetrical," he then added, his voice raising a bit.

Cross Stitch looked down at the grim reaper when he heard Kid raise his voice, now ignoring his pissed off weapons. "What was that, Kid? Were you saying something?" He asked, noticing that Kid wasn't looking at his weapons as he spoke.

Kid's glare hardened. "Yes actually, I was. About you." The albino raised a brow, wondering what Kid could possibly be thinking. He had a few guesses, but Kid's response blew all sense and logic out the window. "HOW CAN YOU STAND BEING DRESSED LIKE THAT?!"

The new trio stared at the grim reaper, eyes wide and questioning what the hell was going on. "What are you talking about?" Cross Stitch then asked, tilting his head to the side.

A growl came from Kid before he stood up, leering at Cross Stitch as he moved towards him. The albino took a tentative step back, wondering what move the grim reaper would make next. He was tense, anticipating a new onslaught or some technique only he knew. He found himself surprised when Kid stopped about ten feet away from him, glare as strong as ever as he shouted: "THAT JACKET IS COMPLETELY ASYMMETRICAL!"

Violet eyes widened, the new trio staring at the older meister while his weapons stayed quiet; Patty looking on with child-like innocence, while Liz sweat-dropped. The rest of the crowd shared the elder pistol's reaction. "I mean, look at it! It's barely covering you! It doesn't even have a left sleeve anymore!"

This outburst got the younger Stein to perk up, looking at his left arm again before looking back at the reaper. "Well, yeah, your bullets undid the seams. Why's that a problem now?" He asked, his brow still arched and his face blank. He was confused. He didn't like being confused. He needed Kid to explain so he could make sense of everything. And yet, the more he spoke, the more confused Cross Stitch got.

"Are you serious?! It's disgusting! How can you continue with such a useless garment!" Kid had started going off on a tangent after that, stamping his foot as he talked about all the importance of symmetry.

The new meister raised his blades again, staring at Kid for a moment before turning his attention to them. "Um...guys?"

"It's not normal, Cross Stitch," the Madison twins said in unison.

His shoulders slacked. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"Positive!" Archer said, looking at the scene before them, feeling kind of awkward.

"Yeah, I've never seen someone act like this," Hunter said, trying to process what the hell was going on.

"Oh," Cross Stitch said, going back to observing Kid, his confusion much more visible as it prolonged.

The bystanders that were talking about him looked on, feeling a little bad for the team. Not even Black Star could help feeling like this for all three of them, no matter how much he didn't like the new meister. He sucked at socializing, so he could only imagine what was going through the younger Stein's head when Kid lost it. Especially considering no one told any of them about Kid's obsession with symmetry.

"Aw man, there he goes again," Black Star said, covering his pity with annoyance.

"Seriously," Soul said, scratching the back of his head.

Everyone was silent for a moment, watching the ranting reaper and the silent newcomer for a few moments, wondering if or when something would happen. After a few minutes of nothing, Spirit looked down at his former partner.

"I'm surprised Cross Stitch isn't attacking him. Wouldn't your son take advantage of this?" He asked him.

Stein spared him a glance before looking back at the duel. "Cross Stitch doesn't know much about people, and Kid isn't acting like most children. He's probably too shocked to do anything," he said, face still neutral.

Tsubaki turned to him. "Would Kid's obsession really do that to him?" She asked.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure, but he had a similar look on his face when he first got to know Hunter and Archer. If not that, then it's probably not far off," he said.

Another few moments passed, Kid continuing his rant. At this point, Cross Stitch had his left arm crossed while his right hand rubbed his chin, Hunter tucked under his left arm and Archer's handle held against his upper right arm. He stared at the reaper with an innocent look on his face, an expression a young child would have when they were trying to figure out what something was. He was wracking his brain, trying to put words to what he was witnessing. After what seemed like forever, the professor's son brought his fist to his left hand.

"Oh! I get it, now!" He said as he smiled.

Kid turned to look at him, a tad surprised by the albino's good mood. Cross Stitch's expression wasn't sadistic like it was before, nor was it pleased. The smile was kind and nonthreatening, which made the son of Death calm and stand straight.

"Would you mind giving me a second?" Cross Stitch then asked, closing his eyes.

The younger reaper stared at him for a moment, but then stared at the jacket again. He repressed a shudder before saying: "Yes, go ahead!"

He complied, shifting Hunter a bit so he could take his right arm out of its sleeve.

"Cross Stitch, what are you doing?" Hunter asked, confusion rising from him and his sister.

"What does it look like?" Their meister asked before sticking Archer into the ground and grabbing Hunter's handle. "I'm taking off my asymmetrical jacket," he said, shaking his detached left sleeve off. Once done, he removed the rest of the garment. "It's the least I could do for Kid, here," he added before picking Archer up.

Archer felt a vein pop in her head. "He's our opponent, Cross Stitch, why are you doing anything for him?" She yelled.

He looked at the female katana. "Because he helped me with a problem," he answered.

The reply caught the twins off guard. They stared at their meister with a blank look before turning to each other, wondering what he meant exactly.

Cross Stitch turned to Kid, lowering his swords. "Is this better?" He asked him.

The grim reaper looked at his new classmate, giving him a once over before smiling in approval. "Yes, thank you," Kid said to him, relaxing a little.

His fellow meister chuckled. "It's no problem!" He said, closing his eyes. "My data's complete, so it's the least I could do."

Shocked expressions came to everyone, but after a moment, the boy's father and weapons smirked.

"Oh, is that why you were just watching him rant?" Hunter asked, a new sense of confidence and amusement washing over him.

The albino nodded, sadistic delight leaking through his smile. "Uh-huh."

Archer laughed outright, making Kid narrow his eyes. "Wow! And there you were worrying about it earlier," she said.

Cross Stitch laughed. "Yeah, everything is down pat now."

Kid growled. "And just what nonsense are you referring to?" He asked the boy, beginning to get angry.

Cross Stitch looked at the reaper. "It's not nonsense, it's you," he said, looking back at his opponents's souls. "Your soul is driven to do good, but it's also incredibly uptight, and stems from your desire for symmetry," he explained, his vision fading back to the world around him. "Your tendencies about it are neurotic, and they get in the way of your battles more than a bit. Your everyday life too, I'd bet. If not for Liz and Patty's laid back souls, it probably wouldn't be as easy to calm those tendencies," he added, his smile morphing into a smirk.

Liz sweat dropped. "Wow. He nailed Kid to a T," she said, Patty laughing right after.

"He's funny!" She said, giggling.

The younger Stein chuckled to himself, looking away from Kid. "Papa said learning what triggers stress and what drives a person are difficult to identify at first. I guess the same is true when you're looking at both," he said, pleased.

Kid growled, firing two bullets from both his weapons.

"Cross Stitch!" The twins called.

The meister's eyes widened, noticing the bullets in the nick of time. He barely dodged the first two, his swords glowing bright white. As the next two approached, he raised his weapons against them. He slashed, Kid's attack gliding against the twin swords before veering off to either side of their meister, hitting the ground behind him.

Surprise came to many faces, but none were quite as pronounced as Kid's. _How did he...?_ he briefly thought. Suddenly he remembered the first time his friends had fought Dr. Stein. Black Star had struck him with his soul wavelength, only to have Stein match it with his own and defeat him.

Kid glared at the boy. _Of course. His soul is flexible like the Professor's...but still,_ he thought, turning his attention to the swords. Cross Stitch returned to his relaxed stance from when the fight started. _How did he manage that with his weapons?_

At the other end of the battlefield, a sharp exhale from Archer caught Cross Stitch's attention. He looked down, raising his swords. "Are you two okay?" He asked them, noticing how tense their wavelengths were.

Their faces appeared in the blades, breathing hard. Archer was grabbing her side, and Hunter's right eye was squinting in pain. "We're okay," Hunter said, returning to catching his breath.

"Yeah," Archer said, panting a bit more before speaking again. "That just hurt a bit more than we expected, that's all."

Cross Stitch frowned. "I'll have to read up more on Phasmology. I don't think I'll make Equilibrium better without it," he said.

"Okay," they said back as Kid straightened his posture.

" 'Equilibrium?' " He questioned, getting Cross Stitch to look back at him. "What is that?" He asked.

The albino meister smirked. "Oh, just a project I'm working on. If a flexible soul can match the wavelength of another, can it reach the same equilibrium with a partner or two? If it can, could it be used by other meister weapon pairs?" He explained, lowering Hunter and Archer to his sides again before taking a step forward. "If it can be done, I want to be able to use it against strong opponents, like yourself. And since this is about matching wavelengths, "Equilibrium" just seemed like the perfect name for that technique," he added, allowing himself a chuckle.

Kid's eyes narrowed again. _His soul is flexible and he's experimenting with how he can fight. If anyone needed more proof that he's Professor Stein's son, then this would be it,_ he thought, before focusing on the new meister and what he had learned about him. _It may be imperfect, but Cross Stitch now has a way to block me. Furthermore, there's still another weapon technique I haven't seen from them. And as we've been fighting, he's been looking at how to adjust to me so I can't predict how he'll counter,_ he added, standing a little straighter and closing his eyes.

_There's no other choice,_ he thought before opening them again. "In that case," he said, getting Cross Stitch to narrow his eyes, "I think it's time you see the true power of a grim reaper."

The statement rose excitement within the crowd, and a startled expression from Cross Stitch. Then he let out a chuckle, a knowing look in his eyes and a smirk on his face. "Very well then. And since you're being so kind, I'll try to match it."

Eyes widened in the younger Stein's direction, even from his own weapons. "Are you sure, Cross Stitch?" Hunter asked, sounding nervous.

"Yeah, we only truly resonated one time," Archer said, a bit concerned. She was all for risk-taking and pushing their boundaries, but she knew their chances against Kid were slim in this situation. At best.

Their meister nodded. "The only other way I could fight back against their Soul Resonance is by disrupting it using Soul Force. And as established, that's not exactly a good idea right now," he said, still smirking as his weapons eyed his injured hand. "If we don't use our own Soul Resonance, the only option left is to take the hit. If I'm doomed to lose, at least I can say I gave it my all," he said.

The twin swords paused, staring blankly at their meister before laughing to themselves. "Alright then," said Archer.

"Yeah, you're the boss!" Said Hunter.

Cross Stitch's smirk morphed into a more regular smile, looking up at Kid. "Okay then. Get ready!" He said, twirling them before getting into a stance. One blade turned to be guarding his front while the other guarded his back. Kid stood straight, his guns lowered at his sides.

The meisters locked eyes, their weapons hardening their gazes. It was quiet for only a moment, but it felt like much longer to those watching. Until finally, they prepared their final attack.

"Let's go, Soul Resonance!"

Soul energy surged through the two teams. Dust circled around Kid as he levitated off the ground. His black needles began to take form, and his pistols turned bright pink and encircled his hands. Cross Stitch's swords shined an almost white shade of blue, the energy around them expanding until the blades expanded with it. The katanas gleamed, as if under the bask of the full moon, soul energy still pulsing from them.

The shape caught the men on the side lines by surprise, Stein and Spirit both barely able to contain their surprise as their eyes widened."Oh my," Lord Death said, leaning forward. "I haven't seen this technique in some time." The students looked up at him briefly, wondering what he meant before looking back at the new team. "Blue Moon Slasher," Lord Death said.

Kid landed, glaring at Cross Stitch as his attack began to charge. "Execution Mode ready," he said.

The albino meister smirked when he heard this. "Get ready, you two," he told his weapons as Liz and Patty began going through the usual checklist with their meister, preparing to fire.

"Right," they said as their opponent's countdown started. The pulsing energy was now being concentrated onto the blades, like waves rippling through water.

"One," Liz said.

"Firing now," Patty said, smiling.

Kid's glare hardened. "Death Canon," he said, holding his arms out straight before the blast came.

Cross Stitch narrowed his eyes. "Blue Moon Slasher!" He yelled, swinging his swords. Hunter first, then Archer, each one firing off a strike, the attacks a few inches apart from one another before combining to form a giant, X-shaped attack.

* * *

**_Okay, that took a while. I wanted to have scenes after this part, but I kept getting stuck. I'm going to revisit it for the next chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the fight! I'll hopefully be back with an update sooner rather than later._**

**_~ K. Fang-sama_**


	8. Chapter 8

**_And here we go. I'm loving where this is going, so far. I think I know where we're going from here, at least to some extent._**

* * *

Cross Stitch

**Chapter Eight**

Dr. Stein returned home at around seven o'clock that night. He was usually back sooner than this. In fact, he'd usually have eaten dinner already, and be in the middle of grading papers. However, tonight was an exception. His son required his undivided attention once his fight ended earlier.

Cross Stitch's Blue Moon Slasher was formidable. It collided with the Death Canon, holding the attack in place, but getting no closer to Kid than the blast could to Cross Stitch. Kid's right eye squinted, trying to focus more power into his weapons. Cross Stitch wasn't much better, crossing his swords in front of him to strengthen the strikes and adjusting his stance to make sure the collision didn't send him flying back.

Everyone in the audience held up an arm to shield themselves from the force of the attack. It thankfully wasn't as intense where they were standing, but it was still enough to make people wanna duck and cover.

The struggle went back forth, one not gaining much ground over the other for a good few moments to come. Those moments were beginning to get agonizing to the new meister, though. He was having trouble holding the attack, feeling light jolts of pain. They started in his hands and went up his arms. He maintained his position, trying his best to ignore the pain and concentrate on regaining control of the wavelength.

More back forth could be seen between the two attacks, but once the jolts struck the rest of Cross Stitch's body, the Death Canon broke his attack, hitting him and his partners directly. Remnants of the Blue Moon Slasher managed to press forward, giving Kid two cuts, one on either arm, before sending him back, his soul resonance having just given out a second prior.

"Kid!" His weapons called, maintaining their pistol form. The grim reaper panted from where he lay, his eyes held tightly shut as he tried to regain his senses. The new injuries reverberated pain throughout his entire body, as if the blades were slicing at his innards, even though there were no other wounds. The feeling, though dulling slowly, was fierce and had a sting that lingered.

His grip on his weapons tightened, his heart racing against his chest. _I've never seen a technique like that,_ he thought, propping up on his elbow, gritting his teeth and scowling as he sat back up. The wounds pulsed, sending another sharp feeling down his entire body.

_If that's a fragment of the attack, I don't wanna be on the receiving end when it's fully formed,_ he thought, finally able to open his eyes. A crater was made where Cross Stitch was standing prior, smoke still coming out of it, and no sign that the new trio were getting up. Off to the side, Kid could see his father approach him, Tsubaki, Black Star and Spirit not far behind him.

"Well, that was quite the match, Kiddo! Are you alright?" Lord Death asked him, leaning forward a bit. Kid blinked a few times, before nodding, looking back at the crater the new kids were in. The others followed suit.

By this point, Maka and Soul were standing by it, Dr. Stein just rolling up as the smoke cleared. Hunter and Archer were back in their human forms, both scratched up from the blast and slowly getting back on their feet. Cross Stitch was a little worse off, but he was still conscious, and he too was slowly getting to his feet. Slower than his weapon partners, but at least he was still moving.

"Did you feel any jolts while using the attack, son?" Stein asked as Cross Stitch got onto one knee, a few rocks hanging out on his back still.

The younger Stein nodded, trying to keep his composure and ignore how exhausted he felt. He wasn't looking forward to the walk home now. Even if it didn't hurt to move right now, all he wanted to do now was go to bed. The only thing keeping him awake was the fact he had to get home, as well as the rush of emotions he felt at facing such a strong opponent. He couldn't quite name them all, but they weren't negative. He felt quite happy with how things ended, though he wasn't entirely sure why. He'd have to remember to research it later.

Stein turned the screw in his head as he said: "We've got a few things that need work. I'm getting you started on private lessons immediately."

Hunter and Archer began to brush themselves off as Cross Stitch nodded. "Did we do that bad, Uncle Stein?" Hunter asked, looking surprised.

"I thought we were doing fine. I didn't feel any jolts," Archer said, looking at her brother before looking back up at the scientist.

"Yeah, neither did I," Hunter said.

The screw in Stein's head clicked, which made the scientist stop moving. "Really now?" He asked before resting his arm on the back of his chair, his curiosity piqued slightly. _That's weird. The pain usually starts from the weapons, then spreads to the meister,_ he thought, receiving two nods after a moment.

He hummed to himself, his face unreadable. _Their resonance is far from stable, despite their strong bond. It's hard to believe that Hunter and Archer felt nothing,_ he added, remembering his first experience resonating with Lucinda. To say that resonance was a challenge for them would be an understatement. Blue Moon Slasher was a completely different beast, especially next to the Witch Hunter.

Cross Stitch finally managed to stand. He felt unsteady in his footing, like a push would send him to the ground in an instant. He didn't particularly feel like spending the night in the infirmary. Besides, he was more interested in his father's silence. _So, the jolts are a sign that the technique isn't perfected. That makes sense, but why is it becoming a problem for me and not them?_ He questioned, looking at his weapons before looking at his father. "Take it that's not normal, is it Papa?"

His father shook his head, causing Hunter and Archer to look back at him, concerned. "Did that happen the first time we truly resonated?" Archer asked.

Cross Stitch shook his head. "So, this was a partial success, then," Hunter said before looking back at his meister. "Are you okay?" He asked him.

"Yeah, you don't look too hot," Archer said, putting a hand on her hip. Cross Stitch was a bit ruffed up from the fight. There was a good layer of sweat on his face, and his eyes looked strained. Both her and her brother were ready for him to fall face first.

His meister let out a small breath, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. "I think so," he said, looking past them to look at Soul and Maka. "You guys mind helping us out of this hole?" He asked politely.

He received a few smiles. "Yeah, sure!" Soul said.

Liz and Patty had changed back by the time Maka helped Archer out, Soul just beginning to help Cross Stitch. Once he was about halfway up, another jolt came. Cross Stitch's vision began to blur and he felt himself slipping from Soul's grip. The world seemed to slip as he fell back, only returning when he felt Hunter catch him. He tried moving again, only for his weapon to stop him.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Hunter said to him, refraining from yelling. He had a frown on his face, at a loss on what to do. Getting his meister to calm down was a no-brainer, but he wasn't sure what else could be done to help. Cross Stitch was more than a bit out of it, and he was struggling to get back up. Trying to get his attention wasn't working too well, and the sword was worried that his meister would hurt himself if he didn't stop.

Dr. Stein got up and stepped into the crater, the others had gathered by this point to see what was happening. He knelt down, helped Hunter settle his son down, then gave Cross Stitch a once-over. It took no more than a few minutes, but once he finished, he straightened his back; a hand to his chin and his lips curved upward. "A delayed reaction to the partial success. How intriguing," Stein said, the light reflected off of his glasses.

Hunter looked at the doctor. "Will he be okay?" He asked.

Stein placed his hand in his lap, his smile firm. "Yeah, he'll be fine. Blue Moon Slasher is pretty difficult to master, and it's definitely not a technique you wanna screw up," he said before looking back down at his son. "Best thing for him now is rest. Nothing else to do except take him home," he then said, standing up.

The group looked at him surprised. "Are you sure, Dr. Stein?" Maka asked him.

"Yeah," Spirit said, giving his old partner a confused look. "Wouldn't it make more sense to admit him to the infirmary? He was also hit by the Death Canon. He's gotta be feeling that right now," he said, not understanding how Stein wasn't more concerned about his son's physical well-being, even after being beaten in battle. Forget that he was beaten by Death the Kid of all people.

Stein looked up at his old partner, a neutral expression on his face. "Well, sure, I thought of it, Spirit. And considering how many kids tried to attack him during classes or while his back was turned, I think it'd be better if he recouped at home," he said, sounding slightly agitated.

His tone made Spirit flinch in fear. And as far as Stein was concerned, it should. He knew exactly what was going through Spirit's head and he didn't care for it. He knew his son and he knew how to take care of him. Cross Stitch would be fine, and he knew that. There was no need for any more concern after that.

After all of this was said and done, Stein left with the Madison twins, Hunter carrying Cross Stitch on his back. He settled Cross Stitch into his new bedroom and treated his injuries. Once done, he gave the twins instructions on how to care for him, then said that he'd come by in the morning to check on him again. After making sure that they understood everything and answering a few of their questions, they said goodbye to him and got to work on dinner.

The doctor sighed, a smile on his face as he rummaged his fridge for leftovers. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was relieved that Cross Stitch had those two and not some other weapons as his partners. Not only did they understand a decent bit about him already, but it also spared Cross Stitch from experiencing what he did in school. Stein never minded being different, nor cared that people didn't understand him. In a sense, neither did his son. The boy would rather die than sacrifice his individuality to please other people.

But it was always apparent how much he wanted to be accepted by others. To have a place among the other children his age. Stein only had that because Spirit made him part of his friend group, and the other kids did not approve. Thanks to them, Cross Stitch not only had that, but seemed like he would be naturally accepted into his own group of peers. Other children either rejected him, or only socialized with him to appease their parents. And, by association, pleasing Lucinda's parents.

Stein's nose scrunched up, glaring at nothing. He would dissect Clyde and Amelia Heartgrave in a nanosecond if Lucinda wouldn't hate his guts for it. They would do anything and everything to get in the way of his relationship with his son; do everything to make it as if he weren't Cross Stitch's father; to mold Cross Stitch into their idea of what their first grandson should be like. The scientist wouldn't have it. He'd have done away with them years ago if he could.

Stein stopped for a second, his eyes softening. _Except Lucinda still wants to have a relationship with them. Wants Cross Stitch to have one with them too,_ he thought. His eyes narrowed again after a moment. _And despite everything, Cross Stitch still wants them to accept him for who he is._

The meister scoffed at his own thought before returning to his search for food. "Like that's gonna happen," he said.

He found some leftover chicken with rice and broccoli, set up a plate, then put it in the microwave. After starting it, the house phone rang. Stein lived where he worked, so there was a separate phone number for Patchwork Lab. The house phone was listed under his name, and there were three phones total. One in the kitchen, one in the living room, and one in his bedroom. He didn't receive many calls, unless it was from his son or his mother.

Stein looked down at the caller ID and chuckled, pressing Talk. Speak of the she-devil.

"I thought you weren't going to call after his first day," Stein said in a teasing tone.

He heard the woman laugh. "I said I wouldn't call Cross Stitch. I never said you had a day off," she said, just as playful as the scientist. "So, how was his first day?" Lucinda asked him.

He could feel her warm smile through the phone, imagining her eyes closed. Her beaming energy was just one of many things that attracted him to her, and was among the many things he missed while she was traveling. The Dancing Death Scythe made herself as available as humanly possible, but between show tours and missions for Lord Death, that proved to be trying at times. Especially on their son.

Stein leaned up against the counter. "Well, as you might have guessed, he did have a few mishaps. Several kids tried to pick a fight with him because we're related, but he managed to avoid all of them. Hunter and Archer stayed close to him, so that helped," he began, deciding it best to get the bad things about Cross Stitch's day out of the way first. Lucinda was a great mother and she understood that their son's mind was complex, so she made sure to give him some space. She could be a doting mother, however, she was always protective of her loved ones. And when Cross Stitch was born, that nature intensified. By at least a thousand.

There was an audible groan at the other end of the line, followed by almost inaudible muttering. It continued for a good few minutes before Stein heard her let out a breath. "I suppose you're right," she said, trying to keep her voice level. She and Stein knew that the chance of this happening was high, but she still had to remind herself, and remember that her boy was capable of protecting himself. If he wasn't, Stein or one of the other professor's would have stepped in.

She sighed again. "Did anything else go bad for him today?" She asked, mentally preparing herself.

Stein let out a hum. "I guess that would depend," he said right before the microwave beeped.

"On what?" Lucinda asked as he took his dinner out.

Stein didn't answer immediately. He closed the door to the microwave and grabbed himself silverware. He grabbed his plate then, speaking in a casual tone as he walked towards the island. "How you would view him having his first ever duel using his weapons."

"Tell me everything! Right now!"

The meister had to hold in a chuckle. The smallest reactions from his old partner were always amusing, even when they were kids. If he weren't against the word, he'd actually call them cute.

He put the phone on speaker and set it down. As he began to dig into his meal, he told her everything that happened in between bites, starting from his altercation with Black Star before the fight started, and ending with their son's defeat to Death the Kid, but not after trying to use Blue Moon Slasher to counter his Death Canon.

Lucinda made a loud gasp, then started squealing and jumping with excitement. The reaction made Stein smirk.

"I KNEW IT!" She said after a moment. "I knew he could do it! 'Rare meister ability,' my ass!" Stein actually laughed when she said that. "I knew that Blue Moon Slasher was a genetic technique. Looks like this is proof," she said with pride.

"Oh yes," Stein said, quite pleased with the confirmation. "A few tests could make it a scientific fact, you know," he teased at her before drinking some water.

"Not while I'm not there, Franken. Unless you want me tug that screw out of your head."

"Okay, okay," Stein said, holding one of his hands up at the phone.

"Good!" She said, huffing. "The last thing I need is for you to get careless again, and definitely not while running tests on our son. Let him look at your scalpels, he hurts himself! Let him chase frogs in the rain, he gets sick! Let him-"

Stein refrained from commenting as Lucinda continued to ramble, shrugging it off, but making no noise to alert her. Everything was an experiment. Him, Lucinda, even Cross Stitch. He treated them differently because he cared about them, but that didn't make them exempt from the fact. Lucinda would occasionally permit him to run tests, if she was comfortable with him probing her. Cross Stitch never told him no. However, his mother had her own opinions about that, though. Meaning if he indulged himself without her permission, and she found out, he'd have hell to pay for it.

His head didn't need that.

There was a moment of silence between them, Stein taking a few more forkfuls of food and Lucinda taking a few long breaths as the seconds passed. The seconds felt like hours to the scientist, but his patience was rewarded by the sound of Lucinda gasping.

"Is our boy okay?" She suddenly asked him, now worried. "He isn't hurt too bad, is he?"

Stein chuckled a bit before he swallowed more food. He sighed, wiped him mouth, and said: "Yes, he'll be fine. I saw to that myself."

A heavy sigh of relief came from the other end of the line, followed by the phrase: "Oh, thank Death," in a soft mutter.

Stein paused for a moment longer and took a sip of water. Then he added: "He's not going back to school for at least two days because of the partial success. His injuries aren't severe, but he's feeling the jolts right now. I'll have to track his progress, but so long as he takes it easy, he'll feel better within a week," he added, putting his cup down.

By the sound she made, Lucinda wasn't happy with the explanation. But, she didn't comment on it, knowing that Stein did everything he could, and could only check in from time to time and wait. "That's good...I forgot how much the jolts hurt. Those three have got to be in agony, right now," she said, trying to get some cheeriness back in her voice.

A hand came to Stein's screw again, turning it as he said: "Actually, they're not. Hunter and Archer didn't feel anything, but Cross Stitch has the full brunt of it."

"But that's...impossible!" Lucinda said, an anxious air coming to her. "The jolts always starts with the weapon's struggle to resonate with the meister. Everyone's said that. Including you, Franken," she added.

Stein cleared his throat as a way to cover for the silence between them. Even in a state of worry, Lucinda calling him by name was enough to make his brain stop working. After that, he returned to his screw, relocating the thought he had before saying: "With us, that was always the case, but that's not it this time." His screw clicked, causing Stein to remove his hand and rest it on the island. "The twins were well enough to walk themselves home. They showed no outward signs. I think this particular instance is a one-sided problem," he said.

He heard Lucinda groan. She was either confused or getting worried again. Quite possibly both. Either way, she said nothing about it, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. It was quiet for a few minutes longer, but when she spoke again, Lucinda was much calmer.

"You'll let me know what you find out from this, right?" She asked, her voice more level.

Stein smiled. "Of course. I'll call you with updates on his improvement. Between Blue Moon Slasher and Soul Force, Cross Stitch is gonna have a pretty lively first semester at school. Be sure you call him as much as you can though. He's gonna want to tell you everything," he said before finishing up his plate.

Lucinda giggled. "Oh, I can't wait for that! He kept getting excited as he perfected his swordsmanship. I haven't seen him like that since he mastered a triple spin. He never stopped beaming, Franken!" She said.

Stein laughed before beginning to clean up his dinner. "I believe you," he said, setting his dishes on the counter and leaning up against it. "You would have been ecstatic if you saw him during classes, though," he then said, a smirk returning to his face.

"Why? What happened?" She asked him, sitting on the edge of her seat.

He chuckled. "Our boy made some friends today," he told her.

The first thing Stein heard from Lucinda was a squeal, followed by the excited demands to tell her everything about them. The doctor chuckled at her again before telling her who the students were. She already knew a little about Maka, and as a death scythe, she already knew a good deal about Death the Kid. However, hearing their child get along with a giving soul like Tsubaki, or a reckless one like Soul was enough to make Lucinda leap with excitement.

At some point, Stein had finished the dishes, and had taken the phone off speaker as he continued describing the encouraging Liz and her childish sister Patty. For the most part, Lucinda was delighted to hear about these new friends. Black Star got her a bit mad, but Stein wisely diverted her attention by telling her what happened between Cross Stitch and Maka once class was over.

"AAAHHH!" Lucinda screamed of excitement. So loud in fact that Stein created some distance between him and the phone, a large smirk on his face at hearing her boisterous reaction. "THAT IS SO ADORABLE! Aw! My baby's growing up!" Stein could hear the tears through the phone, forcibly being reminded of Spirit whenever he gushed over Maka. Lucinda was a proud and happy mother, but also wept for the days Cross Stitch was still in kindergarten. She adored Cross Stitch, and could be equally as clingy with him. The difference was that she could give their son some space and not feel hurt or defeated by it.

Stein was having a hard time containing himself. Chuckles were escaping his lips, but he was exercising a lot of self-restraint by not laughing psychotically. And not just because Lucinda's reactions were humorous, but because his son's behavior around Maka was also. The young scythe meister was learning to read the souls many different kinds of people in a rather short span of time. She was already compassionate and earnest, especially towards more troubled souls. However, expanding her abilities was allowing her to understand how to approach these different people.

In short, she could probably get Cross Stitch out of his comfort zone without him resisting it.

The doctor put a hand over his mouth, trying to stifle his chuckles. _She's doing a good job, so far,_ he thought before taking a breath, moving from one hand to the other and putting it to his ear again. "Maka can use Soul Perception, so I have a feeling that the two of them will get along swimmingly," he said, his smirk not a big as it was but still present.

"Do you think Cross Stitch likes her?" Lucinda couldn't help but ask.

Stein rolled his eyes. "If by "like," you mean: "attracted to her and may wanna date her," I can't say. They're already planning on spending time together, though. She's tutoring him, Hunter and Archer in phasmology, right now, and knowing her, it will probably lead to more social interactions," he said, stuffing a hand in his pocket. _She's such a romantic,_ he thought, smiling to himself.

"All right, then. You better call me if anything changes between those two, alright?" She said, pouting a little at the other end of the line.

Stein actually laughed this time. "Okay, sure! Should I email you pictures, too?"

"YES!" She yelled again, too quick for Stein to move the phone away. "Oh Death, this time away is going to be torture. I wanna see everything!"

"Well, you're on tour for how long? Three more months?" Stein asked, sitting back down at the island.

"Ten weeks," Lucinda said, sounding somewhat exasperated.

"Okay then. Do you have any assignments from Lord Death following this tour?" He then asked her.

A quick, loud sigh came from the other end of the line. "By some grace and miracle, no," she said, some relief shining through her voice.

"Then, what's stopping you from requesting some time back in Death City? Your room is still here, and you know Cross Stitch would love staying with us while you're in town," Stein offered, trying to be optimistic for Lucinda for a change. It wasn't commonplace for Lucinda to get down and upset, but when she did, it was hard to get her spirits up again. Stein learned early on that the best way to relieve her of this was to show her some reasonable sign of hope. It didn't always work, and there were some times that his suggestions fell through and she felt down again, but for the most part, she could always find her footing and get back up when he did.

Lucinda giggled to herself. "I know he would, and I love that he still loves that," she said. It fell silent for a second, and Stein could feel her mood shift again. "The problem is that mine and Ricardo's managers are trying to set up a joint tour once this one ends. I've been arguing for a break first, but Ricardo is so insistent on it being sooner rather than later," she said, pouting again.

Stein felt a vein pop in his head, finding himself glaring at nothing. "That's the new boyfriend, right?" He asked, trying to stay calm. When Lucinda confirmed this, Stein let out a long breath from his nose. "Does he realize that he's had more time with you so far this year than our own son has?" He asked, letting his agitation show only slightly.

"Franken, you make it sound like he's trying to separate me from Cross Stitch," Lucinda said, her voice raising slightly. "Ricardo loves our son! He wouldn't do that," she added then, her voice leveling out and her pout returning.

Another vein popped in Stein's head, his annoyance now spreading in three different directions. To Ricardo for not respecting the mother of his child or her wishes to spend time with their son; to Lucinda for missing that very big red flag that said he didn't care about Cross Stitch, and probably didn't care about her as much as he said he did; and to Cross Stitch for sparing his mother his thoughts.

_I see Cross Stitch hasn't told her how he feels about this guy, yet,_ he thought. _Is he hoping it'll work out, or does he just not wanna hurt her feelings?_ He asked himself before replying to Lucinda. "So you've said. But if that's the case, he shouldn't be pressing you so hard to spend more time away from Cross Stitch, especially when you clearly wanna see him. If anything, I'd think Ricardo would want to come with you to visit our son," he said to her, a serious tone returning to his voice. "After all, didn't he say once that he loved the idea of being a stepdad?" He asked her.

There was a sudden desire to dismember the man beyond recognition when he said this. As much as Stein believed Lucinda was better off with another man, it didn't mean that he liked the idea all that much. With a good candidate, he'd try to suppress the feeling for Lucinda, and even for Cross Stitch if the man was a good parental figure as well. This Ricardo guy didn't sound like he was good in either category, though. So the thought that he'd end up marrying Lucinda and help them raise Cross Stitch together was more than enough to make his blood boil.

"Yes, he did," Lucinda said, her mood lifted slightly. Both by the memory, and the fact that Stein remembered what she said about Ricardo. "But he keeps insisting that it will take us to the next level in our careers, and he's always been so...driven. It's so hard to deter him when he's chasing after a goal," she explained, sounding conflicted.

_Oh, he's chasing after something, all right!_ Stein thought, glaring at the phone through the corner of his eye. _For the love of Death, please don't fall for this, Lucinda,_ he mentally begged before letting out heavy sigh. "Well, if what he wants is you, then he should have no problem chasing after you. Tell him that you're spending time with Cross Stitch in Death City once your tour is over. And if he wants to be part of the family, then he should put his foot down and make an effort," he told her, moving his free hand to turn his screw. He could feel a small migraine coming on, and he wanted to clear his head before it could hit him.

Lucinda sighed again. "If I do that, he'll just bring up how Cross Stitch is thirteen and can handle himself now, and all of that shit I don't like hearing," she said, sounding depressed as she brought it up.

The hand turning Stein's screw jerked one final turn, the screw clicking a tad louder than normal. Stein felt his anger build even more, but he managed to subdue it because of his former partner's tone. "Lucinda," he said then, being sure to choose his words carefully, "Cross Stitch may be self-sufficient, but he's still a kid. It doesn't matter that he's a teenager, he still needs you. He still needs both of us. And he's not gonna be a kid forever, Lu," he reasoned with her.

It was quiet for a minute or so, but Stein could eventually hear Lucinda whimpering a bit. She sniffled a bit, giving him the image of her eyes tearing up and her lips quivering. "He used to be so little," she said, her voice croaking a bit. "And now look at him...on his way to be a good man, like you," she said, her voice half-filled with pride, while the other half was filled with sadness.

Stein put his hand on the island, his eyes softening, and a small smile returning to his face. "He is on his way, but he still needs us to help get him there... He still needs his mother, Lu," he said softly. He wouldn't lie, he was happy Lucinda thought so highly of him, but she deserved all that happiness she gave to those around her by tenfold.

He paused for a moment, hearing Lucinda try to stifle any crying on the other end of the line. When he thought she was composed enough, he spoke again. This time out of concern.

"Lucinda," he said, sitting back in the chair. "What happens when Ricardo talks to you about Cross Stitch? What runs through your head when he says things like that?"

Again, more silence. He could hear her struggle to form words without crying. She sobbed a few times, but she became silent almost immediately after. Lucinda wiped her eyes more than a few times, and a few moments later, decided to blow her nose after sniffling too much. After several minutes, she took in a few deep breaths, letting out a heavy sigh before finally speaking to Stein.

" 'What runs through my head?' " She repeated back to him. Stein confirmed this and returned to remaining quiet. He listened as Lucinda took another, much deeper breath before answering his question.

"...that I've lost my baby," she said. Stein's eyes widened. "That my boy isn't a child anymore. That I'm out of time to spend with him... I'm out of time to be a good mother," she said, sobs starting to come through again.

Stein's eyes closed, absorbing what he had just heard as Lucinda started to cry. "Look at what I do, Franken," she said to him. "I travel the world, I dance, I save lives, it's all I wanted to do with my life. But I also wanted to be able to come home and see my children grow up. What kind of messed up world is my head in where I could do both of those?" She asked him, not wanting nor expecting an answer. "When I came home for Cross Stitch's birthday, I felt like I should be wrapping my arms around my three-year-old baby, not my teenage boy. I've missed so much of his life! I haven't been there for him! And now look at him... he's living with his friends and... I've missed my chance..." she said.

By now, Stein's hand was pinching the bridge of his nose. Once again, the scientist was choosing his words very carefully, careful to keep his focus on the situation, and keep Ricardo on the back burner as much as possible.

_Note to self: brainstorm disposal methods later,_ he thought, taking a deep breath before speaking. "Lucinda...that is not true. You have not missed your chance to be a good mother. Quite the contrary: you jump at every chance you get," he said to her. "If you weren't a good mother, you wouldn't have saved him from your dad's school. If you weren't a good mother, you wouldn't get excited at him getting excited about something that interests him. If you weren't a good mother, you wouldn't spend most of your days at home with him, trying to be a part of his life. And if you weren't a good mother... Cross Stitch wouldn't jump at the opportunity to spend time with you."

He paused for a minute, hearing Lucinda cry a little at the other end of the line. She didn't sound as upset as she did before, but she still wept. Stein wasn't sure if it had to do with what he said, her looking back on her memories with Cross Stitch, or some combination of the two, but it was an encouraging sign that he said the right thing.

"And Lu," Stein said, "let me tell you, if our son heard you say what you just said about yourself to me, he would tell you the exact same things. And you know how our boy is when it comes to lying."

Lucinda giggled then, her sobbing beginning to subside and her voice brightening up a bit. Stein chuckled a little when she did this, feeling a bit relieved.

"We're quite lucky he's our boy," Lucinda said after a few minutes. "I mean honestly? How many thirteen-year-old boys wanna spend their free time with their parents?"

Stein let himself laugh at that. "I teach a bunch of 'em. And from what I've seen, not many." The parents shared a laugh together. "But you see what I mean? Cross Stitch would be upset if he lost the chance to spend time with you. He loves you. You and I may not always be able to be with him, but we take every chance we get. He knows that, and he doesn't take it for granted, Lucinda," Stein said with a smile.

"I know... I forget that sometimes, though," she admitted, sounding sheepish. She paused for a minute, hummed to herself, then spoke again. "Franken, do you think Lord Death would let me instruct a course in soul synchronization?" She asked.

The question surprised Stein for a second. "Um...given that's your specialty, I don't see why not. Why the sudden interest?" He asked her.

"Well, a thought occurred to me," Lucinda said. "When my tour ends, the semester will be about halfway over, and Lord Death could send me in any direction at any point after that. I don't feel like going on tour after this one, and I've realized that, over the last few years, I've been lucky to spend a month at home. Maybe I need to take a break from all the traveling and just be in a place where I can spend time with our boy. I figured if I were teaching like you are, it would give me the opportunity to do that," she said, her voice sounding more back to normal.

"Oh," Stein said, his smile returning. "Well, I'd ask him first, but again, I don't see why Lord Death would say no to you. What are you gonna say to your manager and your boyfriend, though?" He asked, knowing the stress those two could create for her.

"The truth: I need a break," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "They're full grown men, they should be able to handle that without crying. And I intend to tell a journalist friend of mine the exact same thing, so it's put out there that I'm not traveling for a while," she said.

Stein laughed again. "All right, then. Should I let you go so you can talk to Lord Death?" He asked her.

"Yes, you should. I'll call you tomorrow to get an update on Cross Stitch, okay?" Lucinda said.

"Sure, no problem," he said.

Lucinda let out a sigh of relief. "All right... goodnight, Franken," she said.

"Goodnight," Stein said, moving to hang up the phone.

"Oh, and Franken?" She suddenly said.

Stein put the phone back to his ear. "Yeah, Lu?" He asked her.

"Thank you."

* * *

_**Okay, this took a little while. Sorry for the wait, but I wanted Lucinda to have some character development. Let me know what you think of this update. What do you think of Lucinda?**_

_**Until next time,  
~ K. Fang-sama  
**_


End file.
